Whispers in the Desert Sunrise
by MistressRaven1605
Summary: Hinata is hurt by Naruto. She leaves Konaha because of this and because she wants to find herself prove her independence. And who does she happen to find along the way? Gaara... HinataxGaara slight mention of Narusaku (Slight AU)
1. Let Down

Wow it's been a long time since I have written a fan fic, I guess I just suffered from a very long writers block and a fall out of liking Anime. Well I'm back with more improved writing. So I hope that you will all enjoy this fic. The first chapter is based off of one of my favourite songs Let Down by Dead by Sunrise.

Whispers in the Desert Sunrise

Chapter 1

Let Down

By: Vanessa Palmer

Hinata stood there on the pathway leaving Konaha, a tear slide gently down her pale cheek. Leaving was one of the hardest things she could do. She knew it would be for the best. She had been let down by the one she loved. She thought back to the scene she had seen before her.

_Sakura had been pushed up against the wall, Naruto tenderly kissed her, her hands grabbed on to his hair as they let passion take its course. Hinata had been heading home when she rounded the corner and saw this taking place before her eyes. They were engaged, set to be married in few days time. But this was too much for her. Her fingers caressed the ring on her finger. Every inch of her heart shattered into bit. She sniffed out loud catching the attention of the blonde and rose headed. They both looked in her direction and saw her wide eyes. _

"_Hinata" Naruto whisper her name. She reached her hand down and pulled the ring off her finger. She held it up so he could see, the symbol of all her happiness, was the object of her disgrace. She dropped it to the ground as if it were an insect. _

"_So that how you really feel" She spoke in barely a whisper. She turned away. "Goodbye Naruto." She said a little louder before walking off._

That memory played in her mind, more tears followed. She remembered the words she told Tsunade, about her leaving. She understood of course; feel sorry for the poor girl. Pity was not what Hinata wanted. The reason as to why she didn't tell her father of her misfortune. She was running away from her destiny and from the person who hurt her so bad.

'_And the tears fall like rain down my face again oh the words you wouldn't say and the games you play with my unfoolish heart oh I should have known this from the start.'_

With her bags pack she began her journey far away. Tsunade was kind enough to offer a mission to Suna to help with relations between the villages. But she included a request to the Kazekage to allow Hinata to stay there until she is fit to return emotionally that is. Hinata was grateful the desert held much for her since she could forget things in it. She walked along the paths that lead into the forest, casting one look back, she began to run. Running as fast as she could, wanting to escape all the pain.

She couldn't care less for what she left behind. Her father would be glad to have her gone, her relationship with Neji died long ago and Hanabi held nothing for her but hate. And now the love of her life Naruto left her heart in pieces. Her friends had long moved off to other villages with their romantic interests. Since she had chains on her heart she could never bring herself to leave. But now that was different, she was leaving the chain had been long broken before it had been whole. This was her chance to be free.

It took about 2 days before she reached the desert. The land of sand went on for miles; golden dust flowed like wind across the sand swirling around almost calling to her to enter. She stepped out on to the soft sand, the heat finally touching her cause her to shiver with delight. She began to run, knowing that she could become lost in the desert if she continued to walk. Keeping her eyes forward she caught sight of Suna coming out of the horizon. The beautiful village rose up from the golden sands like a castle out of the mist. She stared in awe at the huge gates. Having only been here once she never had the chance to take in the beauty of the village. The massive gates opened up before her, she entered slowly still taking in her surroundings.

"Ah you must be Hyuuga Hinata." A strong female voice called out, Hinata looked towards the voice which belonged to a tall blonde lady. Her bold blue eyes pierced her innocent lavender ones.

"Um... yes I am" Hinata said in barely a whisper. The blonde observed her, watching her get fluster by her observation. She chuckled to herself.

"You're quite the shy one are you? Well I'm Sabaku Temari the Kazekage older sister. Welcome to Suna. Tsunade had sent note that you would be arriving here." She spoke still watching Hinata carefully. "I shall take you to you living quarters. We have a small apartment for you since it is unknown how long you will be staying here. I trust it will be to your liking" Hinata nodded in response unsure of what to actually say to her. "You will be meeting the Kazekage later this evening we thought it might be best if you were to settle in first." She said as she led Hinata through the village to her new home. They stopped in front of a housing complex. This is it, here is your key, you are in room 483. I will see you later." She started walking away.

"Um... thank you Temari-san." She spoke up louder. Temari turned to her and before heading off. Hinata sighed to herself and headed up the stair to her apartment. Once inside she sat herself on the bed and stared out the window. The desert seemed to be calming as the evening grew upon it; there was a distant howling of the wind which sent shivers down her spine. This was definitely a place to for forgetting things. She lifted herself off the bed and head to the bathroom. She needed a bath after her 3 day journey. She filled the marble tub with warm water and slipped in. The warmth was welcomed; it soothed her pain and made her feel drowsy. She closed her eyes and thought of the past events knowing she shouldn't but it couldn't be help 3 days was not enough time to forget.

'O_h the winter and spring going hand in hand just like my love and pain how the thought of you cuts deep within the vein oh this brand new skin stretched across scarred terrain...'_

Hinata headed down to the village centre where the Kazekage was suppose to meet her, she entered the building and walked up several long stairs. When she reached the top, she saw Temari leaning against the door frame. She notice Hinata and gave her a smile. "Hello Hinata-chan"

"Good evening Temari-san" She spoke with a very polite tone, Temari was not used to this a small blushed covered her cheeks.

"You don't need to talk to me with such formalities." Temari spoke slightly embarrassed. "Gaara is waiting for you, come on lets go." She said with a smile. Hinata nodded. She remembered Gaara from the times when he visited the village. She knew he was no long cruel or evil so to say. She remembered the first time she had seen him, shivering slightly. She knew he'd change, Naruto knew it too. 'Naruto' she whispered the name with much sadness. She enter the room, she saw Gaara sitting behind a desk, his red hair set a flame to the darkening sky, the kanji of Ai carved into porcelain skin, and his bright aqua eyes looking at her with interest. She shivered when she notice him looking at her.

"Hello, I am Hyuuga Hinata. I'm here on the orders of Tsunade to help out here if it need here." Hinata looked up at him their eyes meeting. There seem to be electricity in the room; it was too much for Hinata and she casted her eyes to the ground.

"Yes I know. Tsunade sent note to say that you need time away from Konaha and to allow you to stay here until you are ready to return. You are welcome to stay as long as you wish. In the mean time you shall work with our shinobi, taking part in missions and such." Gaara spoke in a slight monotone giving of the 'I really don't care just don't get in the way tone' Hinata nodded in response. She tried to look up at him again, but his stare was too strong for her. She dismissed herself with a swift nod from Gaara and headed back home to get ready for the next day.

'_All those years down the drain love was not enough when you want everything what I gave to you and now the end must start oh I should have listened to my heart...'_


	2. Midnight Crowd

Chapter 2

Midnight Crowd

Temari sat there in the office staring at Gaara. He simply ignored her, trying to continue with his work. He couldn't be bother with oldest sand sibling. She continue to stare crinkling her noise every once in a while. Eventually Gaara got annoyed with her constant staring, he begrudgingly faced her, his monotone features didn't looked impressed. "What do you want now?" He asked in a low grumble. She smiled at him with an evil sort of smile.

"You haven't assigned the Hyuuga girl to any missions yet. I was knid of think we should throw her a test see how good she is... What do you think?" Temari asked with an idea obviously in her mind. Gaara ponder the thought for a moment. It was true that they didn't know the skills of this girl from Konaha a Hyuuga no less. He looked at her with a slight willingness to listen to his sister's crazy idea.

"What do you have in mind?" He asked, see the excitement in her eyes he instantly regretted asking.

"Well I was thinking a duel!" She said cheerfully.

"Ah yes a duel will be fine, it be good to see you two fight it out since your quite strong" Gaara said in agreement with the unfinished idea.

"Oh Gaara you silly brother, I didn't me against me. I think she should go up against you." Gaara eyed her, not liking where this idea was going. "Oh come on Gaara you know it's a good idea, plus it will make the people happy to see you do it!" She said adding emphasis to her idea. "And Kanki already agreed with it too." Gaara just stared at her for a minute before facing his paperwork, contemplating the idea deeply. He looked back at her and simply nodded. Temari jumped up with joy, and quickly headed for the door. "I'll go tell Hyuuga-san. Thank you Gaara for liking my idea." She left with that same evil smile, making him wonder if he should be regretting this idea.

'_Sweetness, sweetness never suits me, when I get up to take you home maybe it's love, love at first slightly drunk now I'm walking with the sun in my mouth'_

Hinata was wandering through the village; the heat had rose since she woke. Her feet quietly move along the sand stone roads. She looked into the windows of various shops, amazed at the beautiful object the plagued the shelves. She passed a flower shop, something she didn't think she would see here in Suna. She touched a red rose that had been near the enterence, her finger caressed and the memories returned.

_Hinata had been walking through the forest after a long day of training. She saw Naruto up ahead and instantly became nervous. He saw her and smiled. She smiled back at him as she approached him. "Hi Hinata-chan, I'm glad I finally found you." He said with a genuine smile, and brought something out from behind him. A red rose. Hinata face became a flame from the blushing. "Hinata this rose is for you. All these years I never really noticed you until the day you saved my life. I wanted to tell that I had loved you but never had the chance."_

She quickly removed her hand from the rose and held to her chest, a tear slide down her face. "Why?" she quietly whispered to no one. She turned and ran from the flower shop hoping the memory would leave its self there. But fate had other ideas for her, as she began to run she crashed into something soft and both ended up on the ground.

"Gees girl what scared you a ghost?" Temari voice boomed with comedy as she chuckled to herself. Hinata looked over at her then quickly blushed in embarrassment.

"Oh Temari-san I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." She squeaked out.

"Don't worry its okay" Temari smiled at her as she picked herself up off of the ground. She put her hand out offering it to Hinata. She took it pulling herself up from the ground. Now standing Temari turned to her, brushing herself off. "Gaara wanted me to give you a message about your first task here. He wants see how goods of a shinobi you are." She said with triumphant. Hinata shivered at the thought of fighting someone here, but she continued to look Temari in the eye. She expects that she'd be fighting either her or her brother Kankuro. From what she remember they were hard to beat. "Gaara has decided that he will be battling you since he is one of the strongest from our village." When those words left Temari's mouth she froze.

'Me... Fight Gaara, I'm doomed to fail.' She thought her eyes were wide now. "What?" She question out loud. Temari just laugh at her.

"I wouldn't worry much we are just testing your skill not trying to kill you." She smiled at the blackish blue hair girl trying to give her some relief.

'_Worry, worry is a well, going to let it fall tonight, from where we stand'_

Hinata now stood in a arena, tall tan walls surround the main grounds, few spectators stood in the windows of the towers. Hinata looked down at her hands, black fingerless gloves stared back at her. A gift from Naruto, she couldn't bring herself to throwing them away since they made fighting easier. She heard some cheering and looked up to see the fiery haired boy standing there no longer wearing the kazekage robes. The ominous gourd sat on his back, no longer shaking like it had before when he still contained the demon. It had been years since his death and resurrection and many more since the time when she had seen him kill right before her and her team mates eyes. 'Kiba... Shino...' She missed them very much; they had been long gone before her though. Gaara approached her, his face was straight and uninterested in the battle that was about to take place.

"We shall fight till the first one falls or gives up" He said in a bored monotone voice. "Ready?" He asked this time looking right at her. She shivered under his stare as she nodded looking at him straight in the eyes. She moved into her battle stance, her feet were apart and her hands were outstretched in front of her. She quickly activated her Byakugan and readied herself. She lunged at Gaara making the first move, only to hit a wall of sand. She quickly movee around the sand trying to get closer, she notice sand heading towards from the corner of her eye, she dodged it. She set down on her tip toes throwing her hand to the sky. Strings of chakra flowed from her hands, she began to move her hands at a fast pace. The chakra strings acted as razors slicing at the sand that head her way. The faded and she pushed herself forward past the sand up close to him, with a kunai in hand she threw it towards him, he had to jump to dodge it. He hadn't seen her coming, slowly he made hand movements. More sand came barrelling towards her; she used her chakra to form a shield to protect herself. The fight continued for an hour, the darkness was creeping up around the arena. She felt herself get tired but she knew she had to keep going prove to herself she could do it. On the other hand she knew she was impressing the people of sand especially Gaara. She was sure he expected this fight to be over long ago. Gaara still seem to just stand there uninterested but there was a glint of excitement in his eyes. Hinata lunged forward once more but was abruptly stopped. She hadn't seen the sand coming up from under her, now it surrounded her like a blanket holding her in the same spot. She struggled trying to break free. Next thing she knew Gaara's face was inches from her, his eyes pierced down into hers, she felt scarred for the first time since she'd been there. He held a smile on his face like some invisible joke had been said.

"I am impressed." His words were almost a whisper, a ghost on the wind. "I didn't think you would last." He reached his hand down and ran it across her cheek. 'She's actually kind of cute' He thought to himself, keeping the smile on his face. He moved closer, she could feel his breathe on her face; she shivered eyes wide as a full moon. But then as fast as he had been there he was gone, the sand dropped away from her slowly almost caressing her as it went. She looked up to see Gaara retreating to the entrance. "Report to my office tomorrow, I will be giving you your first mission." He turned and face her one last time, which was back to the a straight frown. "Don't be late." Then he was gone. Hinata sat there clutching her heart; it was racing at 1000 beats a minute. Her face was a deep crimson from the blush. '

'Why did he come so close? What just happened there?' She kept asking herself. She picked herself off of the ground and slowly headed back to her apartment.

Gaara sat there behind his desk contemplating what just happened. `Why did I do that?' He thought to himself. He hadn't felt these feelings before. He felt safe around the girl; this of course was something that was new to him. He would have to talk to Kankuro about this later. Right now he just wanted to finish the paper work that had been left behind before this battle that had taken place.

_' Sickness, weakness at the thought, of how you're going to play, how long should I stay?  
Promises, promises never cease to assist it, now I'm back on my back, please bite your words, hurry, hurry to believe, I can always trust, as much as you deceive'_

_------------------------_

Thank you for the reviews! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I think I have the next chapter all planned up in my head so hopefully I will keep them coming for you.

Remember to read and review I want to know what you all think. And the song used in this chapter is Midnight Crowd by Stars.


	3. Hush

Chapter 3

Hush

It was way too soon for this she wasn`t quite ready for what happened next. Hinata sat in her window staring at the dark city thinking of the events of the evening. `He was too close, it can't happen. No I was imagining it.' She furiously thought to herself. She continue to watch the city below, few people were out on the streets, there were lights from pubs and late night shops, the city have many hanging lights in honour of the upcoming festival. She sighed silently to herself. She need to calm down, she got up from the window and left the room. She walked outside, the unexpected cold washed over her. She shivered, since when was the desert cold. She started to walk heading in the opposite direction of the Kazekage's tower. Sometime she longed for the forest of Konaha, the tall trees beautiful green leaves and all the hidden treasure that forests have. She walked till she found the training grounds; silently she walked up to the post and touched it gently with her pale hand. She remembered the days when she used to train so hard that her hands bled. Thankfully she didn't have to train that hard anymore. She had become such a strong person being with Naruto, she could bring herself to understand where they went wrong. The only word she could come up with was 'it was never meant to be.' Sighing to herself she sat down on a bench near the edge of the training grounds.

'_This is as quiet as it gets hush down now, go to sleep. We were once perfect me and you will never leave this room...'_

Gaara looked up from his paperwork; he was almost finished with the day's work. He looked out the window; the darkness had covered the village. He sighed and went into deep thought. He couldn't stop thinking about the blackish blue haired girl that had become part of the village. Her eyes that held much emotion he wondered what had happened to her to make her feel so much pain. The letter hadn't mentioned anything about what happened to her only that she needed time away from Konaha. He sighed and got up from his seat, he need a walk to clear his head since sleep still never came to him. The air seemed a bit chillier then usually, as Gaara moved through the village. His cloak blew in the soft breeze, his hair ruffle since it was free from the hat. He slowly made his way towards the training grounds he knew there wouldn't be a soul. As he got close he could sense a presence there, but nothing threatening. He hear what sounding like sobbing, curious of whom it was he moved closer staying behind the figure.

'_This is the calming before the storm this absolution is always incomplete, it's always bittersweet.'_

Hinata had been thinking about Naruto, the memory that should have told things were going wrong sprung into her mind.

'_Hinata had been waiting all night for him to get home, they had moved in together but were sleeping in separate rooms. He told he was going for ramen with some friends and would be back late. She hadn't expected it to be this late. She sat up and walked to the window, she saw Naruto walking with a pink haired girl. Sakura. Hinata knew Sakura was his friend since they were team members but what she didn't understand why they were holding hands. He said his goodbye to her and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. 'Close friend thing I guess' She though, she walked away from the window to the door and went outside to wait in the main room. Naruto enter not expecting Hinata to still be awake. "Oh yor still up?" He asked slight confused._

_"I couldn't sleep guess one could say I was missing you too much" She said with a smile. "So who were you with?" She asked curiously._

_"Oh you know the guys; we didn't do much just talked with steaming hot bowls of ramen." He said with a big goofy smile._

_"And Sakura?" She asked flat out. He looked at her with confusion._

_"I wasn't with Sakura, where did you ever get that idea from." He spoke with a slight faltered voice. Hinata gave him a look that told she knew he was lying. _

_"I saw you two just now, holding hands." Her eyes narrowed. He looked her waving his hands in front of her._

_"Oh yea she came and found me, she was having some problems with cooping the loss of Sasuke thats all. You know she gets like that every once in a while I was just cheering her up. You don't need worry. Honestly would this face ever lie to you?" She looked at him before smiling and shaking her head._

Hinata stared up at the sky, she felt stupid. She could tell he was lying but she was to blind by love to think anything of it. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" She chanted out loud to herself.

"Who is stupid?" A silky voice spoke out that of which belong to a certain red-head. She turned and looked at him startled that he had been there.

"O-oh u-umm n-no one," She stuttered out, hoping he would buy her lie. He just shook his head at her and sat beside no longer talking but staring at the sky instead. Hinata just stared at him unsure of how to react in the situation considering what had happened earlier. She blushed a bit at the thought of the closeness. "U-mm... m-me... I'm stupid because I let him hurt me." She spoke softly trying to hold back the tears.

"Hmm?" Was all she got back in response, she sighed wondering if she should tell him. She figured he had some right to know since it was the very reason she was here.

"You remember Naruto?" She asked, knowing very well it was a stupid one to ask. He simply nodded at her, still staring at the sky. "Well we were engaged." When she said Gaara looked at her, she could have sworn it was due to shock or something. "We had moved in together and everything seemed to be going perfect." She paused contemplating whether she should continue or not. "Then 2 days before the wedding I had gone for a night walk like I had done today. And well I saw something I should have. Sakura in his arms making out like they had been in love, and it hurt so much to see it. To think I thought he loved me only to turn around and give his love to her." She began to sob quietly. Gaara look down to her, his eyes were uncertain but not emotionless like he normally tried to do. He couldn't act cold when someone hurt or down not since he lost the demon.

'_Hush, you color my eyes red, your loves not live its dead. This letters written itself inside out again, when rivers turn to roads and lovers become trends, hush this is where it ends'_

He didn't actually know what to say to her, but he was thinking of the millions of way to hurt Naruto the next time he saw him. How could anyone do that to someone like, a girl that is very emotion and hold love to her heart. A pure and innocent thing, Naruto deserved more than just a simple beating he deserved to be crushed. He heard Hinata sigh from beside him.

"I guess it shows how stupid I am." She said quietly. He looked at her with slight alarm.

"You are not stupid!" He said in almost an angry whisper. "If anyone is stupid, it's Naruto how could he do something like that?" She stared at him in shock, she expected him to agree with her not defend her.

"Oh." Was all she could say as she turned her eyes to the sand by her feet, shifting them slightly to move the sand. Gaara was still looking at her at this point; he saw her frown turn into a little smile. He wondered why since she had been talking about something sad and hurtful. He cocked his head to the side giving her a confused look; she turned her face and giggled at his confusion. "Thank you Gaara-sama for listening to my senseless babble. It helped me clear my head. Now I'm completely ready for my first mission tomorrow, it will take my mind off of the past." With that said she stood up and started to walk away. "Night Gaara-sama, see you in the morning." A smile now permanently stayed on her face as she ran off in the direction of her apartment. Gaara sat there for moment thinking about what she had said. He felt loads of anger, but then seeing the smile on her face after he listened to her calmed him down. Like he had though before Naruto would pay, he hoped he wouldn't be seeing the blonde ever cause if he did it wouldn't be pretty. He sighed and stared back at the sky. He didn't understand how Naruto, the one who saved his life twice could turn around and do that to a girl who has love most likely all her life. Which he had seen all those years ago when they had first visited konaha.

'_I won't make a sound so you don't wake... don't wake... don't wake... you don't wake... you don't wake...'_

_------_

I hope you all enjoyed that chapter.... still more greatness to come. Sorry that the story is taking too long to get the two of them together but I feel still need a couple more chapters before they realize they are in love. Not a big fan of the stories that just to it.

Anyways the song in this one is Hush by Automatic Loveletter. And yes this is like a giant song fic.


	4. Saviour

Love, what is it? Gaara sat at his desk; short rays of light from the rising sun invaded the small room. Gaara squint his eyes slightly trying to make out the words on the page. He normally hated mornings, day light in general. But his mood was somewhat chipper this morning since he knew he'd be seeing Hinata this morning. He calming affects seem to working well on him, liking the feeling that came with it. He frowned when he thought about the mission he was sending her on, some random mission to escort an old lady back to one of the surround counties. Simple task but something he could give her to take her mind off of **him. **Gaara wasn't impressed with Naruto, he didn't know if he could ever forgive him. He wonder if it had been any other girl would he have felt the same, after pondering that though for hours he concluded he most likely wouldn't. The Hyuuga girl had that affect on him; he was falling for the girl with the broken heart. Ironic no? He sat there staring at the same sheet of paper for at least 10 minutes till he heard a soft knock on the door. He straightened up and briefly answered. "Yes? Come in!"

'_The night is deafening, when the silence is listening. And I'm down on my knees, and I know that something is missing. Because the back of my mind is holding things I'm relying in, but I choose to ignore it because I'm always denying them.'_

Hinata slowly knocked on the door, slight nervous from last night, she had opened up too much to him. "Yes? Come in!" He barked out, she sighed to herself least this mission was a way to get away from him and the emotions he had opened up in her. She pushed the door open and slowly walked in.

"Good morning Kazekage-sama." She went back to calling him that, she felt that calling him by his name was to personal. Gaara looked up from his papers, a frown still on his face.

"Good Morning Hinata-san, are you ready for your mission?" He asked trying to act as uninterested as could, trying not to let her catch sight of his feelings. She stood slight fidgeting with her jacket sleeves.

"Yes I am." She spoke in a whisper, she felt scared to raise her voice, and afraid it may give more away than it already did. Gaara held up some documents and motioned them to her; she reached foward and grabbed them from Gaara's hands both looked at each other in the eyes. She stayed there caught in the beauty of his aqua eyes, which she hadn't much attention to until last night. Her eyes widened, and then she quickly looked away.

"I expect you back in 5 days to complete the mission; you will be paid extra if you return before then. All the details of the mission are contained within those documents. Remember to write a report, and return it to me with the documents when you return. That will be all, you are dismissed." He said in his bored monotone voice. "Oh and try not to get killed." He added that with sarcasm knowing very well she couldn't even get injured on the mission. But just in case he sent Temari with her, she could use the girl and girl bonding. Hinata quickly nodded to before turning and walking out the door like a ghost she was gone.

'_I'm a bit of a manic when it's not as I plan it, 'cause I start losing my head, and then I get up in a panic. Remember, when we were kids, and always knew when to quit it. Are we denying a crisis, or are we scared of admitting it?'_

Hinata soon found Temari at the village gates, the blonde stood there in the sunlight yawning and stretching. She snapped back to her alert self when she heard Hinata clear her throat to speak.

"Good morning Hina-chan" She said with a happier tone. "I saw your battle with Gaara yesterday, quite impressive I must say. I don't think Gaara had even expected that from you." She said in a slight mocking tone, indicating that she saw more than she was supposed to. Hinata just stood there blushing becoming as red as a strawberry. "Oh well let's get this mission over with." She said nodding toward the direction of the village. An elderly lady was heading their way. 'So we have to escort her to the border of Fire County but then who will take her from there.' She wondered to herself freezing in fear that it might very well be Naruto that takes that mission. They started walk through the large gate Hinata offered to carry the lady so that could move fast during the day, she reluctantly agreed. The ran across the desert making it to the entrance of the forest in one and a half days time, setting up camp Hinata knew that they were close another days walk and the be at the meet point where they were to drop Suki off. They didn't talk very much during the journey one enough words to know where they were going Hinata of course lead the way since this was her home land. They landed on the ground in the drop off zone no one was in sight, which didn't make her feel anymore calmer than before. Suddenly there was a rustle of leaves then and tall girl walked out, her long ebony was tied in to a pony tail her skin as pale as Hinata's. The one thing that gave the younger Hyuuga girl away was her pale white eyes similar to Hinata, but not as soft. "Hanabi-chan?" Hinata called out to the younger girl. She only replied with a very cold look to her sister.

'_I don't wanna know'_

After handing Suki off to Hanabi, whom hadn't uttered a word to Hinata, Temari had offer the idea of heading out right away in an attempt to get back early. Hinata agreed with the idea, she need to be away from her old home. As they turned and left, Hinata casted a glance back at Hanabi, sigh to herself. She never really understood why Hanabi hated her so much; she figured it was because of her father. Temari had asked the question, and she just shrugged it off as if it were nothing. When it finally got dark, they decided to set up camp.

"Hinata-chan what do you think of Gaara and be honest?" Temari asked the question out of the blue. Catching Hinata off guard she stare at Temari not sure how to answer it best.

"Well when I had first seen him back when he had been at Konaha for the first time, he scared me. My team had seen him kill someone." Her eyes were wide, remembering that time. She had never felt as scared in her life as she had then. "But since seeing him more recently, I feel no need to fear him. Though I do feel nervous around him." As the words left her mouth, her face went red. Temari smirked at her, mind working at 100 km/h.

"So then do you like him hmm? You're face is red must mean something?" Temari jabbed at her side with index finger, still smirking at the younger girl.

"Umm... I-I don't-t k-know w-what y-you-u are-e t-talking a-about..." Hinata stuttered out.

'_It won't ever change if you want it to stay the same I really hate it, but I know it's hard to chose if you're chained, and when it's all you can control, 'cause you've got nothing else to hold. You're getting tighter and tighter, it's getting harder to let it go'_

Temari had gotten up for her perch smiling at Hinata. She turned to start setting down the camp. It was early morning; the sun was still far off from rising. Hinata was still smiling when she got up, she had been grateful that she had found a friend in Temari, it had made her feel that her stay would be worth it. She turned to help Temari when something caught her attention, a kunai sailing through the air heading straight to Temari. Without thinking Hinata threw herself at Temari successfully knocking her to the ground.

"HEY! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Temari yelled out from the ground, not long after she heard the sound of splitting wood. She looked up from where she was and saw the kunai sticking out of the tree trunk she had been standing in front. She gulped. "Well... it was a good thing you did that Hinata-chan. You saved my life, thank you" She said, a bit of fear was left on her voice. They both picked themselves of the ground and assumed a battle postion. Hinata quickly activated her byakugan. She looked around, until she saw it. A large amount of chakra focused in one spot, the figure seemed to be crouching waiting to attack. All of a sudden it moved, jumping out of the tree in front of them. Her long brown hair hung in a mess down her back, her skin was too pale for words and her eyes were grey and dead like. She lifted her hand up almost like being controlled by a string, it held another three kunai. Temari smirk, knowing she was going to attempt the same move again, she place her hand on her fan and prepared for battle. Just as Temari had assumed the lady shinobi threw all three of the kunai at them, Temari acted quickly pulling out her fan and shooting a gust of wind that blew the kunai away. Then she chanted a justu and called up the wind throwing it back at her. She fell; cuts appeared on her body they turned black. Hinata could smell the old blood, she then noticed that there was a faint string of chakra connecting with the lady in front, it was then that she realized they were fight a dead body.

"She's dead!" Hinata yelled at her. "The real one is hiding in the trees!" She looked around trying to follow the chakra string. But when she was almost to the end the string of chakra broke, the body fell limp to the ground.

'_Stand me up and maybe I won't be so small, free my hands and feet and maybe I won't always fall. Save me'_

Gaara sat behind his desk in frustration; he figured that they should have been back by this time. "Kankuro!" He yelled out. Kankuro had been just outside the door, he hated when Gaara got frustrated because he normally got the brunt end of it. Like a coward Kankuro entered the office, covering his head with his arms expecting something to be thrown. When he didn't feel anything he lowered his arms and looked at Gaara. The expression was a frustration mix with worry. "They aren't back yet. Something doesn't feel right go out and meet them, the last I heard they were nearing the desert." Gaara gave it to him like an order not like a worrying brother. Once Kankuro left the office he called on the best shinobi they had to head out with him, the three of them headed for the gate. He hoped they were alright and just taking their time, not battling some shinobi.

The figure jumped out of the bushes landing gracefully in front of them, her long black hair cascaded down her back, she wore all black, with a dark blue long half skirt, she was pale and black eyes similar to an Uchiha. She was also tall and slender and looked innocent like Hinata, but not as timid. She had a glare painted on her face, her were at her sides she looked unarmed.

"Who are you?" Hinata called out softly. "Why have you attacked us?" The girl looked at Hinata with disgust. Her hands balled into fist, she had a murderous looking her eyes.

"Why else but to kill you Hyuuga." She said bitterly in a soft voice almost a whisper. She moved forward at fast speed until she was beside Temari. "Let's see how well you fight when you have no chakra." She whispered as she touched Temari on the shoulder. Temari felt faint, her energy seemed to be fading fast. She tried she throw a hit on the girl but she had vanished. Hinata watched Temari fall to the ground loosing conscious. She didn't know what to do or how to fight her. She looked at the lady and saw her grinning. "Seeing you pained pleases me. You will soon be joining her, cept you will be going further then her." She said with a smile then gave a sinister laugh.

Kankuro heard the evil laughter, he shivered. He had a deep grudging feeling that there was something wrong; he began to running faster, worrying about his sister. He got to the clearing, he saw Hinata standing there injured at the mercy of Temari fan that was being controlled by the strange girl.

Hinata stood there waiting, she knew it was her end on more hit would have her out and at the mercy of this girl. No one knew that they were here, by the time anyone found them they'd both likely be dead. The fan moved up and went down hard creating a gust of wind, it headed straight towards her, she couldn't scream, and the exhaustion was getting to her. Just as she started fading out she saw something dark blocking the way, but before she could see what it was she finally black out. Kankuro had got there just in time, one of his puppets was lucky enough to catch the force of the wind saving Hinata. The strange lady just glared at him, turning to leave she uttered soft words. "I'll get her eventually." Then she disappeared into the trees leaving Kankuro slight confused.

'_I just wanna run to you and break off the chains, and throw them away. I just wanna be so much, and shake off the dust that turn me to rust. Sooner than later, I'll need a saviour. I'll need a saviour...'_

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Long chapter this one ended up being... sorry it took so long I was busy with work and being sick. The song in this chapter is Saviour by Lights

Hope you enjoy and thank you all for the reviews. :)


	5. I'd Come For You

Wow it has been way too long since I wrote anything on this story, I'm so sorry about that. I guess I just lost interest. I actually happened across this again and reread it. I'm terribly sorry for all the errors in it, I am being more mindful of them in my writing I swear. But I decided to come back and finish this cause I hate where I left it, and you my readers who have been with me despite my disappearances deserve some finished stories. So here is the next chapter. I'm going to try and finish this in two or three more chapters after this we shall see.

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I'd Come For You

When Hinata woke up again she found herself in a room of all white, she knew it was a hospital of some sort or another. She looked at the ceiling for a good few minutes then attempted to sit up only to be stopped by a hand. She studied the hand, pale and smooth she knew who the hand belonged to. She didn't have to wait long as the face of Gaara peered over her. He looked at her with rather neutral eyes.

"How are you feeling?" He asked in his monotone voice, slightly lace with something she could quite put her finger on.

"Well I guess." She said softly in a whisper looking off to the side trying to avoid his eyes. "Is Temari-san okay?" Looking back at Gaara, he nodded.

"She lost a lot of her energy, but she is recovering." He moved away and sat down on the chair by the side of her bed, allowing Hinata to sit up fully. "I would like to know what happen." He demanded, his eyes staring off in the direction of another bed where the blond girl could be seen.

"I-I d-don't k-know-w, s-she came-e out of nowhere-e, s-she w-wanted m-me dead-d." She was stuttering out fear and confusion. She turned her face to Gaara; he looked pensive as he pondered her words. He quickly stood up and turned to leave stopping at the door he faced her.

"Until this person has been found you are no longer going to be sent out on missions, Tsunade would have my head if you were to be killed while you are here." With that said he disappeared around the corner gone from her sight.

'_Just one more moment, that's all that's needed. Like wounded soldiers in need of healing.'_

Hinata sighed to herself and casted her eyes to her hands, fresh bandages covered them; from wounds she seemed to have no memory of. She tried to place her thoughts back to the fight hoping it would help answer the questions that were swirling in her mind. 'Who was she?' 'Why does she want me dead?' But the more she thought on it the more empty she became. The next day she had awoken to the sound of Temari's voice, the older girl had been trying to leave the hospital wing, saying how she was fine, despite the healer wanting to keep her there for observation. Hinata smiled to herself, she admired her will to get out. Soon after the commotion the healer allowed her to be released saying that she was healthy due to only having minor wounds.

The sun was high in the sky, and the heat was sweltering as Hinata made her way through the streets towards her small apartment. There were not many people out in the streets, likely due to the heat, but the few that were gave her stares as she passed by them. The looks made her nervous, she knew they all had heard about what happened and likely blamed her for what happened with Temari. She hurried towards the door of her apartment, quickly closing it behind her she slid to the floor. Somehow tears found their way to her eyes; sobbing to herself she pulled her knees to her chin.

'_Time to be honest, this time I'm pleading. Please don't dwell on it, cause I didn't mean it.'_

Gaara sat at his desk looking over the report from Kankuro, he had been sent out to find the attacker, but so far they had come up empty handed. He growled to himself, angry about the whole situation. This was supposed to be a normal mission with no reason for fighting, but why had this stranger attacked, why did she want to kill Hinata. He also wondered how long it would be until they decided to attack Suna just to get to her. He sighed, and pushed himself up from the chair. All the unanswered questions made him more frustrated, he needed to see her, find out what she knew. Knowing that the healer had like let her go, he avoided the hospital last thing he needed was the angry Temari that was still being held. The sun was beginning to set at this point, streaks of red and orange flowed across the sky like as if a painters brush had stroked across leaving a trail of the soft colours. The streets were covered in the orange hue as Gaara made his way through the crowded streets. Her apartment wasn't far; he hoped she would be there since he didn't quite feel like tracking her. Once he reached the building he noticed the light coming from the room that belong to her, a good sign that she was indeed there. He wandered over to her door and knocked. He could hear someone stirring and moving quickly, he narrowed his eyes as the door opened to reveal the timid girl.

"Kazekage-sama?" Her voice was barely a rough whisper and the red of her eyes told him she had been crying. She stood there watching him carefully, yet calmly.

"I have something I wish to talk with you about, I have been going through reports, I'm missing information that I was hoping you would be able to fill in." His voice was flat and uninterested as per normal with him. She nodded quickly and moved to the side to let him in. He entered slowly watching her as he walked; her eyes were down cast to the floor.

'_I was blindfolded, but now I'm seeing. My mind was closing, now I'm believing.'_

They were seated at the small table, there was few things sprawled across it, her fighting gloves, binding and spare bandages. Hinata sat there silently waiting for him to say something; she was nervously playing with the edges of her tan and light purple jacket. Gaara stared at her, he didn't know where to start, finding it increasingly hard to concentrate with her sitting across from him.

"So do you have any idea why this stranger wanted to kill you?" He asked abruptly, cutting into the silence with his serious voice. She looked up at him, her eyes saddened, she shook her head her voice somehow had betrayed her. "Do you know who it is?" Again she only shook her head, tears were threatening to fall, and he could tell that she was scared.

"I wish I knew." She whispered, to cover the cracking of her voice from her previous sobbing episode.

He stared at her for a good moment, allowing his features to soft he tenderly reached out his hand pushing some loose strands of her dark hair off of her face. Her eyes snapped up to his face, blush crept across her face. "I'm sorry." Was all he said, as he quickly pulled his hand back and looked away from her, his face fell back into the emotionless façade as he pushed himself to his feet and moved fast towards the door, within seconds he was gone leaving Hinata with much more confusion.

'_I finally know just what it means to let someone in to see the side of me that no one does or ever will'_

She sat there for what seemed like hours trying to figure out what was happening, why she was feeling the way she was. She knew with Naruto what love had felt like, which is why heart break felt like bricks hitting her. But the feeling she was currently feeling was different, when he reached out to her she felt her heart speed up, she couldn't breathe. It was too confusing for her, the more she tried to understand the more lost she felt. Everything from the past couple of days made her feel hazy, she came here to escape such feelings yet they still managed to find her. She abruptly jumped up from her chair and ran from the apartment, she needed to clear her head and the night air was just so inviting. She ran until she found her way back to the empty training area. The sky had darkened from the beautiful dusk it had been moments ago, everything was quiet, almost too for Hinata's liking. She walked out to the middle of the training area when she sensed something wasn't right. But before she could react she found herself caught in chakra strands similar to hers. She looked off in the direction of the strands, to notice a figure hunched over. The figured stood and walked towards the light, the familiar face of the lady from before came into view.

"See I told you, you would not be getting away. There is no one around to save you this time; the Hyuuga family will learn what it feels like to have their precious gem stolen from them forever." Her voice was licked with venom, her smirk twisted beyond sadistic. She moved her hands carefully, tightening the strands around Hinata. She could feel them digging into her skin reopening the wounds that had still been healing.

"Why?" She managed to choke out, the older lady only laughed. Her eyes glinting in psychotically, she glowered at the young girl.

"Because my master wishes it?" She asked in a silken purr as she moved closer to Hinata. She shook her head being unable to talk from the tightness of the strands. "You see my master has an issue with the stupid blond fox boy, and to see to it that he is hurt and weak, the only thing we sought possible to weaken him is to take away his special person."

'_So if you're ever lost and find yourself all alone I'd search forever just to bring you home, Here and now this I vow.'_

Gaara had been walking at a fast pace away from her, he didn't understand what he was feeling. Or why he did what he had just done. Lost in his thoughts he somehow found his way to the training area where he had met her the second time since she had come here. He remembered the conversation, her tears and the anger he felt for the stupid blond hair boy. Something about this girl had him so confused, he didn't know what was coming over him but he regarded the girl differently than he did anyone else. He felt the need to protect her, and the want to find the stranger that was threatening her life. It was in the moment he sensed her, turning to leave he stopped and snapped his head in the direction of the training grounds. He could feel another presence there. Her cry was the final straw that made him finally move, he crept up behind the stranger he noted that she hadn't noticed him yet.

Hinata frowned at her statement and cast her eyes down. "W-well I guess-s your m-master i-information i-is incorrect." She lifted her eyes to meet the strangers and gave a slight smirk. The lady's eyes narrowed in confusion.

"What exactly do you mean?" Her voice strained, laced with fear and hate. She pulled on one of the strands forcing Hinata to her knees. She snapped her head back up trying to meet her eyes, trying to hold on and be strong.

"Exactly what I said you have the wrong information, killing me will not cause him weakness as I'm no longer special to him." Her voice was a weak whisper; her strength was failing her fast. Her eyes gazed past her and found a familiar pair of aqua ones staring at her. She knew she needed to help him, so she kept to her cryptic talking trying to keep her distracted. "Killing me will only cause a war of two nations against your master a-and p-probably make the H-Hyuuga clan s-satisfied since I'm a failure i-in their eyes."

_'By now you'd know that I'd come for you no one but you, yes I'd come for you. But only if you told me to.'_

He mentally commanded the sand, slowly it moved until it was underneath her. With Hinata distracting her, the sand slowly slide it way up her body. The sand encased her, gripping her and covering her entirely, Gaara held his hand up and clenched his fist cause the sand to tighten on the stranger. Blood mixed in with the sand as he felt the life leaving the victim when the sand fell, she was no longer recognizable. His eyes watched her fall, and then slipped over to Hinata's motionless body. He ran over to her and knelt beside, gently shaking her shoulder, being careful not to hurt her anymore then she already was, her eyes weakly opened in time to see his face as she lost consciousness again. He carefully picked her up and carried her off towards the tower.

'_And I'd fight for you. I'd lie, it's true. Give my life for you. You know I'd always come for you'_

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I probably could have written that better but I'm on whim for ideas. I just really want to finish this for all of you even if I'm no longer in the fandom anymore. I promise the next chapter will be better.


	6. Starry Eyed

See another chapter so soon after the last. I'm keeping to my promise and not abandoning this story. Again I'm sorry it took so long to update it, I was distracted with other fandoms and this story like many others had been put on the back burner.

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Oh and I complete forgot to mention the song in the last chapter. It was I'd Come for You by Nickelback

Starry Eyed

Gaara stared down at the girl in his arms as he raced through the streets, he couldn't understand why he felt so attached or why he needed to save her. 'The Hokage would never forgive you.' He told himself over and over but in his mind he began to wonder. He stopped short in front of the tower, slowly he made his way through the halls towards the hospital wing. As he neared, something got the better of him and he passed it moving towards the stairs. 'Why?' he continued to ask himself as he reach his room, slowly moving towards the bed, he laid her down. His eyes carefully scanned the girl, for the most part she was just suffering from lack of energy, as her minor wounds had already begun to heal. He lowered himself into a crouch, moving his hand quickly and steady he made the jutsu movements for healing. Once he was satisfied he got up, pulling the covers over her letting her rest, he turned to the door not before casting a glance back at the sleeping girl. The edges of his lips turned up in a slight smile, something that he had not been known for doing often. 'Beautiful' was the thought that crossed his mind as he walked off towards his office.

'_Handle bars, and then I let go, let go for anyone'_

When Hinata finally came to, the sun was beginning to rise; she opened her eyes to the soft sunlight invading the room. Her hands grasped at the warm fabric that she had been laying on. She slowly sat up looking around, half expecting to be in the hospital wing, she was surprised to find herself in a room she had never seen before. Plain tan walls, and pale white sheets and curtains much like all the other rooms of Kazekage's tower. 'Gaara…' Her brows knitted in confusion as she continued to take the room in, a small desk was placed in the corner, and an ivory robe was draped across the chair. 'Gaara?' Her mind questioned, she felt sure now she knew where she was but she didn't understand why. She was pulled from her mind when she heard someone clear their throat; her eyes snapped to the door to find sure enough the very person she had been thinking about was standing there watching her with careful eyes. The minute her eyes found his she felt it, the twisting in her stomach, heat rising to her face, but yet she could tear her eyes away. After what seemed like hours, Gaara looked away, breaking the spell that had captivated her. He slowly moved across the room and sat down on the bed beside her. 'Why?' Echoed in her mind, strangely her voice refused to speak the question and it lingered on her tongue.

"How are you feeling?" His voice was calm as he turned his eyes to hers again.

"I-I am… fine." She had trouble getting the words out, she couldn't understand why; the heat rose to her cheeks again pink flushed her face. She dropped her head forward allowing her long hair to cover her face trying to keep him from seeing the blush. He stared at her, the blush not going unnoticed by him, the corner of his right lip twitch and upturned into a smirk, one which she couldn't see.

'_Take me in, and throw out my heart and get a new one'_

"W-why am I-I here a-and n-not in t-the h-hospital?" She broke the silence with her stuttered still not looking at him. He sat and pondered her question, why was she there in his room and not in the hospital. Part of him wanted to just ignore the question all together, and that was mainly because that part of him didn't know why. 'Why was there an attachment to her? Why her?' The questions flooded his mind and he found he couldn't find the answers.

"It was late and I didn't feel like rousing the healers from their sleep." It hadn't entirely been a lie, it was late. She simply nodded clearly satisfied with the answer.

"T-Thank y-you f-for s-saving m-me." Her voice was as soft as a whisper, though still stuttering he nodded accepting her thanks. 'Hokage would have killed you if hadn't' was all that went through his mind, he was sure if he kept telling himself that it would be true and make more sense. Slowly Hinata rose from the bed finding her shoes she headed for the door, Gaara sat there saying nothing. "I-I s-should b-be g-going I-I d-don't w-want t-to b-burden y-you a-anymore." She said nervously before she slipped out of the room, he let her with nothing more said.

'Why her?' The question continued to bother him as he sat at his desk going over report scrolls. A shuffling by the door caught his attention as his old brother clumsily barged through the door. He sat down in front of him holding out a scroll, Gaara frowned, another report.

"So Gaara I heard you took care of the ninja that attacked the ladies." His voice was whiny and lazy as per normal with him, Gaara could only nod. Kankuro's eye formed a suspicious look as he looked at the distant confusion on his brother's face, one that he knew too well. "Okay what is it? I can tell there is something you can't figure out so spill?" Gaara eyes snapped up a shocked expression clearly visible on his face, slowly melted to his emotionless façade.

"I am just confused about…" His voice dropped off. What was he confused about, how did he explain it to Kankuro? "Someone has caught my attention?" His voice questioned. Kankuro's expression lightened as he seemed delighted by what he said.

"Oh has my little brother fallen in love? Oh I so need Temari here for this." He almost laughed. Gaara glared at him, telling him that he would face death if he called Temari. "Okay okay no Temari." He said waving his hands in defeat before venturing on. "Can I at least know who this interest of yours is?" Gaara looked down at the scroll in front of him, this was clearly not helping. 'Love' the thought crossed his mind as he slowly lifted his hand to the symbol on his forehead. 'Love.'

"How do you know if you love someone? How does it feel?" His voice came out quieter than he had intended but he knew it was heard. Kankuro looked at him for a second clearly trying to figure out how to word his answer.

"Well when you're around them you heart beats faster, you feel the need to protect them I guess. I have never really experienced it. Temari would probably be the better person to ask." He waited for Gaara to say something but the young red-head just stared down at the scrolls in front of him. 'Heart beats faster.' Did his beat fast near her? Was he falling for her? Gaara quickly stood, walking towards the door he need to get out of the room, he felt like he was suffocating.

'_So we burst into colors, colors and carousels'_

Hinata eyes darted across the city watching the people go about their daily lives. Silently she wished she could be back in the forest of Konaha, she remembered the times she would wander them when she wasn't on missions or training. She missed the cool breeze that the desert lacked during the daytime hours. She sighed softly, turning away from the window she looked across the room watching the shadows dance across the floor. Her thoughts wouldn't stay quiet, constantly thinking about things that seem obscure to her. She hadn't imagined it, the pull towards Gaara, but she couldn't explain it. When she knew she like Naruto she felt butterflies and her heart raced, but around Gaara she felt entranced. His eyes could capture hers and she wouldn't be able to breathe. She dropped her head down flinging her hair down with it; closing her eyes she tried to clear her head. 'Naruto…' His name somehow still managed to cross her mind. 'Stupid. So stupid.' Tears formed in her eye threatening to fall. 'Why?' She hated this time alone, she wanted to forget but at down times he still plagued her mind reminding her of the pain all over again. She rose from her spot on the bed and walked towards the door, she need to escape the confines of the apartment and clear her head.

'_Fall head first like paper planes in playground games'_

Gaara walked through the streets; people would occasionally stop to stare before averting their eyes and continue on their way. Sometimes he wondered if it was because they still hadn't forgiven him for the past when he was feared by everyone because of Shukaku. He sighed inward as he continued on down the street heading towards the one place that he seemed to be pulled to like gravity. To his surprise it was empty, he walked across the training ground to the place where he had saved Hinata, and a patch of dried blood was all that remain of the ninja he had killed in order to save her. 'Killer.' He thought bitterly to himself, he hadn't felt the want or need kill anyone since Shukaku, but he had wanted to kill that ninja, and he knew he had enjoyed it more than he had intended to. He stood there staring, still lost in his mind but still very much attentive to his surroundings, he could feel her presence long before she made any sound. He heard her gasp, figuring she hadn't expected him to be there; slowly he turned to face her. She stood in a shock stupor, not moving and barely breathing. She look too innocent to be there, too fragile to be a ninja despite her strength that had come from what he assume was perseverance. The wind tossed her long dark hair around like it was nothing, strands flowed over her face in an attempt to shield her eyes from him. His eyes still held her soft pale ones, he knew she couldn't look away and he knew he wasn't willing to let them go anytime soon. 'Love?' The word had a way of coming back much like the gravity that seemed to have pulled them both back to this very spot.

"U-uh, I'm s-sorry K-kazekage-sama i-if I-I'm disturbing y-you." Her shyness betrayed her again; she didn't understand why she felt so nervous around him. He continued to stare at her, she could feel the blush rushing to her cheeks, slowly she averted her eyes from his, and breaking the stupor she had been stuck in. She slowly turned to leave, but she found she couldn't move looking down she found her legs were bound in sand, her eyes shot towards him as he began to advance towards her. The fear she had felt during their fight had returned; she was trapped with no way of escaping. He stood before her, watching her with curious eyes, his face unreadable to her. "Uh…" She couldn't find her voice under his gaze, she was still very much afraid, but it wasn't of him which confused her. He reached his hand down and traced it along her cheek; she felt shock go through at his touch, her blush deepened. Slowly he cupped her cheek, complete unsure of what he was doing, it was like his body was ignoring what his mind was screaming. She froze; her gaze was caught in his aqua green orbs, captivated. She choked on her breath that was hitched in her throat; his touch sent jolts of electricity through her. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words refuse to budge, closing it again he stared hoping his eyes could relay what his voice refused. Time itself was frozen and with only silence as their witness they stayed in a moment of neither knowing what was going or what to do next.

'_Next thing we're touching. You look at me it's like you hit me with lightning. _

_Oh, everybody's starry eyed.'_

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I know bad place to end the chapter, but hey I want to keep you all hanging on. I do hope this doesn't seem too rushed. As said I drop out of this fandom years ago and well details from the fandom are a little rusty so bear with me. I probably see myself writing on more chapter on this to finish it since I don't think I could keep going the interest for is not full here. I'm not backing down though this story will be complete just don't expect and sequels. Anyways took forever to find a song that match where I was going with this chapter but I think this song sums it up well. Starry Eyed by Ellie Goulding.


	7. Young Blood

Young Blood

'_We're only young and naive still we require certain skills'_

Hinata stood there mesmerized, in this moment she didn't know what to do. Gaara was still cupping her cheek, not saying a word just staring into her eyes. 'What is he doing?' the question flickered across her mind, she knew not the answer but she was too much at a loss for word to even try to ask.

"I-I…" Gaara was having trouble putting his thoughts into words, knowing the position they were in to others would look rather compromising. He tried to put emotion forth but it was hidden under his protective shell. He finally looked away, withdrawing his hand, it fell to his side. "I..." Nothing would make it any easier to tell her what he was feeling; the conversation with Kankuro was still clear in his mind.

"Gaara?" His eyes snapped up at the sound of her voice calling his name, she looked nervous, not that he was surprised he knew he probably scared her, but he wasn't about to give up.

"I think I may have fallen…" This was harder then he thought it would have ever been, since to him love was not a feeling he was accustomed to. Hinata reached her hand out and softly touched his cheek, his eyes for the moment showed the same confusion hers had earlier. "Gaara?" She whispered softly. Ever so gently he trailed a finger across her cheek, she froze at the gesture. Evidently the memory from the duel crossed her mind, her breathe became hitched, heat rose up in her chest.

_The mood it changes like the wind hard to control when it begins'_

"Gaara?" The voice belong to his sister broke the spell of the moment. Hinata was still staring up at him, she heard him give a low possessive growl, she squeaked at the sound. Slowly the sand fell to the ground; he turned from her to face the disrupting sister. "Uh sorry for interrupting, but the ninjas from Konoha have arrived." She said, her voice holding, a mix of embarrassment and annoyance. He simply nodded, walking away not saying a word. Once he had disappeared into the distance, Hinata fell to her knees, she choked on her breath, and confusion crept into her eyes. She heard Temari speaking to her, her strong hands gently held on to her shoulders. "Hinata-san?" Her voice sounded worried, silently she scolded her brother unsure what exactly he had been doing, but it had been enough to scare the poor girl in front of her. Hinata slowly lifted herself up with help of Temari who still watched her with slightly worried eyes.

"T-thank y-you T-temari-san. I-I'm f-fine n-now." She stuttered out, her breath was shallow, she shot the older girl a soft smile and straightened herself. Her hands were shaking, not from fear but from pent up excitement, something that was new to her, though she couldn't understand how or why? "Um… W-who f-from K-konoha i-is h-here?" She asked in a small voice, the older girl raised an eye brow before answering her.

"That annoying blond and the hard head pink hair girl." She stressed the 'annoying' part. Hinata froze for as second time, this time out of fear.

"W-what?" Her eyes turned down to the ground, Naruto had come there for some reason or another, and she hoped she would not have to see him. She turned apologetically to Temari and muttered that she needed to be off before running off. She continued running until she reached the one of the many walls that surrounded the city.

'_Can't help myself but count the flaws claw my way out through these walls'_

Gaara had returned to the tower, he felt frustration over his erratic emotions. This was most definitely something he was not used to. Why had he growled like that? He shook the thought from his mind and sighed. He neared the door to his office, stopping abruptly at the voice that he recognized all too well.

Emitting a low growl, he slowly approached the door, his face dropping back into a emotionless mask. The blond boy was leaning up against the edge of the desk, with the pink kunoichi standing beside him with a worried expression on her face. Gaara was shocked to see them there; he would never have thought the Hokage would send him of all people. "Naruto." His voice borders cold as he speaks the name of the blond, who gives him a big smile and proceeds smack him on the shoulder, lightly. "I hadn't realized you would have been sent here over this matter. I had assumed it would have been the Hyuuga boy." His voice is flat with a slight hint of formality.

"Yes, you would have thought. But I was sent a threatening scroll about Hinata's death being on my hands." Naruto lowered his voice, slowly filling it with sadness, almost like he knows something but it not willing to tell. "I-" He hesitates. Sakura places her hand on his shoulder, give him an understanding look. "I know she probably hates me, but I still consider her a friend and if she is being threatened then I will protect her." Gaara's eyes narrow at him, his arms cross as he leans against the wall.

"It will be up to her if she wants you here or not. I can and will order you to leave if she wishes it." His voice is almost threating. Naruto nods and doesn't say anything more. "Is there anything else I should know before any decision is made?" Naruto looks up at him and nods again.

"I know who it is." He stops giving Sakura another look, she simply nods. "It's Sasuke; he is the one behind it. His hatred for me has led him to try to harm all those I care about."

'_One temporary escape, feel it start to permeate'_

Hinata sat on the edge of the wall watching the setting sun over the desert, her mind flashed to a memory she had long tried to forget.

_Hinata stood there panting, the battle was over yet her body was now covered in blood from the attacks she received. All for him. Naruto sat there against the wall, weakly staring at her, a small smile crossing his face. "Hinata-chan?" She looked at him, with a similar smile on her face. "Did you mean what you said about me being someone special to you?" His steady voice asked hopeful, not breaking eye contact with her. Her smile widened, a ting of blush flushed across her cheeks._

"_Y-yes, every w-word of it."_

"_I'm glad Hinata-chan, because you're someone special to me." She smiled and made her way over to him. "When we get back to Konaha, will you take the honour of being my wife?" He asked her sweetly, this had clearly been something that had been on his mind for a while, and it just took almost dying for it to surface. Her smile told him wonders._

_Hinata now stood outside the gates of Konaha waiting for Naruto to make an appearance. He asked her to meet him there, the confession still hung in the air. She was finally happy, she finally found the courage to tell him, and she had never felt more accomplished as she did in that moment. But soon as the night wore on she wondered where he had gotten to, it had long passed the time he asked her to meet him. She slowly began to walk away, maybe he got hung up she figured. 'I guess I'll head home he'll know to find me there.' Then she heard it. "Sakura-san, we shouldn't be doing this here, were in the open." Her eyes widened at the voice, she slowly peeked around the corner._

"_You idiot. I finally tell you how I feel and you get worried that its too much in the open.' Sakura's voice rang through; send a small kunai into Hinata's heart. Naruto slowly approached her, cupping her face before lowering his lips to hers. She murmured something that vaguely sounded like 'about time'_

_Soon Sakura had been pushed up against the wall; Naruto tenderly kissed her, her hands grabbed on to his hair as they let passion take its course .This was too much for her. Her fingers caressed the ring on her finger. Every inch of her heart shattered into bit. She sniffed out loud catching the attention of the blonde and whose head rose. They both looked in her direction and saw her wide eyes. Naruto voice out how sorry he was, but it fell upon deaf ears, she slowly slide the ring off her figure and tossed angrily in his direction, it was over in moments but the devastation would be left with her forever._

She blink a tear out of her eye, the orange glow of the setting sun basked her in its glow. She didn't want to remember such things, but Naruto being here in Suna pulled that memory back to the for front, even the tender moment with Gaara had been pushed somewhere else in her mind, confused about the feelings it was all too much for her to handle at once. She felt another presence nearby, figuring it was someone looking for her, as it seemed vaguely familiar to her. 'Naruto why?' was the last thought that went through her head as she plummeted to the ground, world fading into black before she could even react.

'_The bittersweet between my teeth, trying to find the in-betweens, fall back in love eventually'_

* * *

I hadn't meant to make this short, but there are certain things that need to be put forth before I could continue with the story. I wanted people to know what actually properly happened between Naruto and Hinata, and yes it leads to her being kidnapped (I'm not trying to paint her a weak trust me, she just let her guard down.) and well I think it's clear who took her, but what are his motives? What is he going to do? Hell what will Gaara do? :D The next chapter is probably going to be the longest since most of everything important is going to happen. Again sorry if this feels rushed, wasn't trying to do that. Finishing this is going to be hard for me, but I think I have the next two chapters figured out so there promise in that. Thank you all again who have stuck with me through my many bad writer's blocks and unfinished stories. I promise after this is done I WILL finish Maniac.


	8. Dance on Our Graves

Dance on our Graves

'_I hear something out there callin' my name._ _No matter where I turn it all looks the same_._'_

It sounded like rain, but it was much too hot for rain. Hinata slowly came to; it was dark where ever she was. The wind pounded against the walls of what she assumed was a cave. She looked around but could not see any light, no indication of where she was. She brought her hand up to the back of her head and rubbed it, it still stung where she had been hit. "H-hello?" She tested the darkness with her voice, something moved by her, but with the darkness it was hard to see.

"You've awakened." A voice rang out, familiarity hung to it, but she couldn't quite place it.

"W-who a-are y-you?" She asked hopeful but only received a deep chuckle in response.

"Still stuttering are you? I would have hoped you'd have grown out of it. It's still irritating as it always." The voice tightened, little more menacing, or so she imagined.

"Sasuke?" She knew that voice, it took his words to realize it, and it all began to make sense.

"Ah so you aren't entirely incompetent." She could hear the smirk in his voice, as she felt a hand touch her forehead. "You know I heard from a little bird that Naruto doesn't love you anymore." His voice sounded slight amused at his confession. "I can't seem to understand why he would find Sakura more attractive then you, the pink hair is enough of a turn off don't you think?" She shivered at the humour in his voice, but in her mind his words were making some sense. "I can help you Hinata. I can help you get back at him, make all your troubles go away and forget them." The darkness slowly lifted, slowly revealing Sasuke, his white costume, not the normal outfit she had come to know him by. The glint in his eyes fascinated her as she found herself drawn to his words.

'_I never sleep at night, I just stay up and wait.'_

"Why do you want to help me? Was it you that sent the ninja after me to kill me?" She asked anger evident in her soft voice. He nodded sadly, almost hurtful at the thought, but he gave her a slight smile.

"I never intended for you to actually die, but for realism I need Naruto to think you were in danger, to see if he indeed cared." She looked down at her hands folded in her lap, sighing softly.

"Then that's why he came to Suna, because he still cares despite what he did to me." A single tear slid down her face and pooled on her hand. Sasuke watched her closely, his black voids eyes show no emotion, something that Hinata was used to. "You still haven't told me why you want to help me." She whispered, know very well he heard.

"I-I just feel terrible about you situation." His voice was softer and kinder then it had been before he looked at her with a new emotion on his face, _sadness_. "Naruto was a friend, and even when I was still in Konaha I could tell you felt something towards him. I saw how he chased after Sakura and it angered me." His eyes stared out towards the mouth of the cave almost like he was in a trance, or lost in a memory. "You were always so kind and sweet, minus the annoying stutter, no offence." She nodded as a way of saying that none was taken. "I had hoped that maybe he would see you, but as it seems it didn't."

"Why do you want to hurt him so much?" His face snapped to hers with shock, he was taken aback by her question. His face fell.

"Cause I too felt something for him once upon a time, but his infatuation with Sakura kind of put a damper on everything, seeing him with her irritated me." Hinata stared at him with awe, she never realized that the boy before could have felt something for Naruto, she figured he probably liked Sakura. "I have never actually shared that with anyone by the way, so be wise not repeat it to anyone." She gave him a quick nod.

"I promise." Her soft voice broke through the silence.

'_But the burning in my blood never came.'_

"I can't find her anywhere." Naruto spoke with urgency as he met back up with Gaara and Sakura. Gaara eyes narrowed at this, his thoughts were thinking of all the places she could be, checking the places they had met up at. But her presence was nowhere to be felt, this worried him.

"It's your fault she took off" The loud voice of Temari, broke then tension and worry. Gaara turned towards his sister with a slight angered look.

"What do you mean, how did she find out?" He asked anger seeping into his voice; Temari gave him a knowing look.

"Cause I told her." She simply said, Naruto eyes widen in shock.

"She ran away because of me, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But it's not safe we need to find her, she in danger." Naruto was scared his voice betrayed him, letting them all know. Gaara managed a glare in Temari direction, before softening his eye. He was just learning of his feelings for the black haired girl and now she was missing. If Sasuke harmed her, he would personally see to it that he died a very sandy death. His gourd began to shake on his back, the sand sloshed around in agreement, it wanted blood and it would not be satisfied until it had blood.

'_I know the man I am is not who I should be.'_

"There is an old jutsu that can grant great strength to one, it can consume their soul leaving them with the loss of the pain that ales their heart. It is said that darkness itself created it as the ultimate weapon against the broken heart." Sasuke sat there with a scroll in his hand, as he recited the words to her about a jutsu that he had found during his time with Orochimaru.

"And you think this will help me overcome the feelings I had for Naruto?" She questioned him softly, trying to convince herself to make the right choice. He simply nodded, offering the scroll to her. She reached her hand out towards it, but hesitated weighing the pros and cons. "What needs to be done to make the jutsu work?" Her voice was slightly shaky, but she tried to remain courageous.

"Well from what I gather, a symbol written in blood upon the forehead of the person accepting it then words of the giver. With a certain aspect of control I can help you with your thoughts and clear you mind of everything that hurts." His voice deceived her, but she couldn't pick it up. She finally took the scroll, looking at it with an insightful look; she flipped it over in her hands careful not to unroll it.

"Naruto-kun, if you hadn't done what you did I would never be here making this choice. I loved you but now I hate you." She whispered to herself as if realizing she was saying something Sasuke eye brows raised in interest.

"Say it again Hinata?" He asked her, she looked at him eyes narrowing.

"I HATE YOU NARUTO!" She yelled out the bitterness and anger coming forward. He smirked evilly at her words. 'Yes Hinata fill your heart with bitterness and hate, it will make this work much easier. And soon Naruto will meet his end.'

"So Hinata are you ready to take on the next step to becoming free of the emotions?" She looked at him, standing up quickly she fully turned towards him.

"Yes I am ready to forget Naruto."

'_The Devil take my hand says, "Child come with me."'_

Hinata knelt before Sasuke; he held a kunai in his hand, the scroll no open at his feet. He closed his eyes in concentration, bringing the kunai to his hand; he dragged it across his finger. Drawing blood he opened his eyes and reached out the bleeding hand towards Hinata. Drawing a symbol that look almost like a binding one, but slight ominous, he pulled his hands together quickly making hand signals and whispering the words of the jutsu fast soon his hands had begun to glow dark purple. The symbol on her forehead matched by glowing purple, slowly Hinata opened her eyes, they were vacant and void of any emotion. Sasuke dropped his hands as she stood up still facing him.

"What will you have me do?" She question obediently, he smirked at this.

"Kill Naruto of course." His words were humorous and dark as she nodded and turned quickly disappearing from the cave. "Have fun Naruto, she will be the death of you. She is under my control now." He laughed at the thought of Hinata killing Naruto.

'_My body shivers and aches. I can't break free.'_

It was now noon, the sun was high in the sky, and the ninjas from Konaha were feeling the heat. Naruto stopped under the shade of one the buildings; Sakura caught up to him and stopped just beside him.

"This is my fault." Her words shocked the boy next toy her, he looked at her shaking his head.

"No Sakura-chan, it's mine I shouldn't have asked her to marry me until I was sure if I actually loved her or not." He looked down at the ground; he felt her soft hand rub his shoulder.

"I'm sure she is fine, she just needs time to herself. She wasn't expecting you to show up her. You should have known it probably wasn't the best of ideas." He nodded at her words staring off into the distance. Quickly stand surprising the pink Kunoichi, he turned and shot her his big grin. "Come on lets head back to Kazekage's tower maybe Gaara had better luck finding her." He took off in the direction of the tower; Sakura sighed then shot off after him. She knew something wasn't right but she didn't know how to voice it without sounding worried. Gaara paced around his office, his mind couldn't help but to think of the pale eyed girl who had capture his attention. He was worried, it made his blood boil, and if she was hurt he didn't know what he would do. He had his demons sure everyone did, but he was worried that his might come back if she wasn't found soon. Temari stood there leaning against the wall watching him with a worried expression. She had somehow managed to get Kankuro to head out looking for her, but there were not many places she could have gone unless she left Suna. The thought worried her, she felt some fault in this now that the whole story had been told to her, if she had known she never would have mentioned it to Hinata, or she would have worded it differently or followed after her. Why was she so stupid? She should have followed after her anyway based purely by the look that crossed her face before she ran off.

"Gaara for the twentieth time I'm so sorry." She said softly, his eyes found hers, she could see the fear.

"What if he hurts her? What if she dies? I can't explain these feelings, but I'm trying to understand them and if she not here I don't know if I will ever understand…" he trailed off, lost in thought again. She could tell even if he couldn't, he was in love.

'_Why do the things I hate come so naturally?'_

Hinata stood at the gates of Suna, her hands balled up in anger, the chakra running through her flared surrounding her in light blue glow. Activating her Byakugan, her eyes scanned the area as she slowly entered the village; she stuck to the shadows, stalking around like a tiger searching for its prey. Her mind was blank; the only thought that was coherent was what Sasuke had told her, 'Kill Naruto.'

"Gaara any luck?" Naruto voice was still surprisingly low for his standards. Gaara simple shook his head. Naruto face fell for the millionth time since they found her gone.

"I hope Sasuke makes his move soon then, so we know for sure what happened to her." His voice was laced with distaste. Gaara stared at him, anger crossed his features, and in a quick motion he had Naruto pinned against the wall, hands around his neck.

"How could you say that fox?" He spat at him, his eyes narrowing. Naruto tried to pry his hands away, gasping for breath, Sakura screamed at Gaara to let him go. His hand slowly released his neck turning away from them.

"This is not the time to be fighting each other!" Sakura almost yelled. "Hinata needs us all to be strong if we are going to save her." Her look was a knowing one, yet her eyes showed worry. Gaara finally walked back around to his oak desk, sitting down.

"Please leave me I have work to do." It wasn't a question, it was demand. Naruto stormed out of the room followed closely by Sakura, she cast a sad glance towards Gaara. 'He lik- loves her.' She thought to herself as she hurried to catch up to Naruto.

'_I need you now, I need you more than ever before, before.'_

Hinata was coming up on the Kazekage's tower, her eyes narrowed as she felt a presence near her, out of the corner of her eye she spotted Temari, who had resume looking for her after Sakura and Naruto had returned.

"Hinata-san!" She called running over to her. "I'm so glad I found you, we have all been so worried." She spoke with a smile crossing her face; Hinata gave her a small smile. Temari searched the girls face for any signs of being upset. "Where have you been, and since when did you start wearing you headband on your forehead?" she asked with slight confusion.

"Oh nowhere Temari-san, I wouldn't worry about it. Where may I find Naruto-kun?" She asked sweetly, trying to mask the bitterness in her voice. Temari nodded in the direction of the Kazekage's tower, Hinata gave her a quick smile then took off running towards it. Temari still suspicious took off running using a short cut to get to the tower; something didn't sit right with her.

Naruto and Sakura left the tower in silence; the pain was evident on his face he was blaming himself for Hinata's disappearance. He hurt the one person that was closest to him, the girl who gave him her undying love and he threw it back in her face for the pink hair girl beside him. He sighed out loud, pulling Sakura from her thoughts.

"Are you alright?" She asked with a worried tone. He shook his head, eyes cast down to the ground.

"It's all my fault Sakura, I..." He trailed off, eyes slowly drifting up to the street ahead of them.

"You couldn't have known…" Sakura started only to be cut off.

"I knew exactly what I was doing." His voice wavered, pulling his hand up in front of him. "I made her a promise of love then broke it by being with you. I knew full well what I was doing was wrong, I should have broken it off, or not let myself get caught like that." There was a strain in his words; he seemed to choke on every one of them. "I should have treated her better."

"Yes you should have." Hinata's bitter voice broke his revelation, her vacant eyes tinged with anger.

"Hinata-san" He started only to be cut off by a kunai sailing by his face leaving a small cut.

"Don't you dare speak to me! Ready yourself for a fight Naruto because I WILL end you." Her voice was final, her teeth were clenched in anger, and she dropped into a battle pose preparing to strike.

"I'm not going to fight you, take out your anger on me I deserve that much." He could hear Sakura protest at his words, he silenced her by walking towards the angry black hair girl. She smirked at his submission.

"This will be easier than we thought."

'_When we see the light when we're going home.'_

Temari ran fast along the empty street towards the back entrance to the tower, she could feel a slight chill in the warm desert air, an uncommon occurrence. She bolted up the stairs fast coming to a halt at the Kazekage's door. Calming down she gently knocked on the door, a minute later Gaara's voice beckoned her to enter.

"I found her, but something is not right. Um…" She searched her mind for the right words. "She not right. Something is wrong with her I know it, and I think Naruto and Sakura are in danger." He raised his eyes to meet hers, narrowing them slightly. He lifted himself from the chair, pulling off his robe, he was wearing a simple black shirt and black pants, he searched for his arm guards and readied himself for a fight just in case. They quickly left the room and descended the stairs.

Naruto fell to the ground, chakra strings wrapped delicately around him, tearing the flesh and clothing.

"I still won't fight you." He whispered sending a wary look towards the fallen Sakura. She had tried to get in the way, Hinata managed to render her useless by closing of her chakra points then sending her fast towards the walls of the tower. She laid there unconscious, bleeding and battered. Hinata stood above her with a placid smile on her face as she threw several kunai at her, puncturing her skin. Turning back to Naruto, she yanked on the chakra string holding him sending him flying down the road. With quick fluid movements, she poised herself on top of him slipping a kunai at his throat. She smirked down at him with a smirk that was not like her at all. She leaned in close towards his ear.

"Sasuke sends his regards." She whispered she pulled the kunai in to the air ready to plunge it into him.

But as her hands began to drop forward she met resistance, looking at her hands she found them bound in sand, she snapped her eyes in the direction of the tower to the person controlling the offending sand. Gaara stood there with his hand held out, his hand close to a fist as he watched her with wary eyes. She narrowed hers, baring her teeth as if they were fangs.

"This is my fight, back off!" She snarled angrily at him, he didn't flinch just continued to stare at her. She closed her eyes and concentrated her chakra, blowing out the sand bonds. Slowly she stood, knowing full well he intended to continue to interfere. She turned heel then took off towards him, she lashed out the hand holding the kunai only to hit a wall of sand.

'_We'll dance on our graves with our bodies below.'_

* * *

I'm like the queen of ending chapters in bad places but I think the rest of the fight is better suited for the next chapter if you get what I mean. I hope this was good enough, it is increasingly hard to finish this cause how I want it to end and how it is actually going to probably end keep like battling it out I keep changing my mind. And yes I went there, I put under someone else control, but even though she under control its still her strength, her fighting style and her anger and bitterness driving it, he merely put the idea in her head sorta thing, the blood bond doesn't give her and strength or powers she doing it all herself, it just forces her to actually fight and it forces the evil persona she taking on. I hope you all enjoy this curve ball and I hope it satisfies all of you who hope Naruto would get it in the end, he got it alright and it made sense the Hinata would be the one to give him a very good close to death beating. And yes I always did hate his character and I know it really shows in this chapter. Anyways the song in Dance on Our Graves by Paper Route they are a very good band definitely worth checking out!


	9. Human

Human

_'Woken up like an animal, teeth ready for sinking.'_

Hinata threw more shot towards Gaara but continued to only hit sand. She fell back and stood still, her eyes closed as she began to concentrate her chakra. Slowly bring it to her finger tips she raised her hands then began moving them around to and unheard sound. She look as if she was dancing, a very deadly dance. The chakra strings graceful moved in on its target, the walls of sand he had put up were sliced through turning them to bits. He stared in confusion, why was she fighting him? The more he stared the more he noticed her aura it purple, not blue like normal chakra colour. It began to make sense in his head, the attitude, attacking Naruto and him. She was being controlled somehow, but did not know of any jutsu that could do that.

"Hinata stop this!" He yelled towards her, trying to get through to her. She smirked, with a slight glint in her pale vacant eyes. She gripped her feet into the ground then swung herself towards him, jumping in to the sky and landing on roof to. She threw several kunais, expecting the sand to block the she jumped managing to drop towards him. He dodged her attack sending sand in her direction. She jump back into the air and landed on the other side of him, he turned to face her she looked feral as she narrowed her eyes at him. This time he made a move, too fast for her to catch due to the fact she no longer had her Byakugan no longer activated. He pinned her to the adjacent wall, his sand covered her legs effectively stopping her from moving. Her head dropped forward, she fell still, she could feel the sand on her skin, and how tightly he held her, but her mind refused her to let her react.

'_My mind's lost in bleak vision I tried to escape but keep sinking'_

"Hinata" He whispered her name, pressing his forehead against hers. Looking up he noticed the headband covering her forehead, narrowing his eyes he brought a hand to her face, without flinching she held his gaze. His fingers lightly touched the headband, slowly he gripped it pulling on it gently, and it fell to ground. His eye stared confused at the markings on her forehead; he noticed the clenching of her fist, and her willingness to escape him. He slowly reached out fingers and lightly caressed the marking.

"What has he done to you?" He questioned her softly. Her eyes snapped up to his.

"Kill Naruto." Her voice was strong, unfaltering the anger evident in her eyes. Gaara pulled back from her, in shock. He closed his eyes, finally understanding. When he opened them again she was looking at him weary, almost like she was curious of something. He slowly leaned forward brushing his lips to her softly, her eyes widened, as he push forward capturing her lips with his. He felt her body relax, her fists slowly unclench.

'_Waking up like an animal I'm all ready for healing'_

Naruto slowly sat up, pain overwhelming him, his eyes searched for Hinata. He noticed them against the wall, Gaara had save his life, knew this much. His eyes widened as Gaara kissed her, he saw the changes in her body, as she relaxed in his grip, and suddenly her body was engulfed in a purple aura. Hinata broke the kiss as her hands gripped her head, a scream of agony erupted from her lips. She fell to her knees; Gaara caught her before she fell forward, her head lolled on to his shoulder. Her hands gripped the ground. Naruto slowly crawled towards them, managing to stop close by.

"Hinata!" He called out as another scream came from the frail girl. Blood now coating her fingers from where she gripped the rough ground, her head snapped up and faced in a direction beyond where Naruto was sitting, she seemed to be staring at someone. She gasped, her hands grabbing Gaara's shirt, she was fearful, whispering incoherent words. Gaara's eyes snapped to the direction she was staring, a dark figure could be seen down the road.

"Naruto be ready, we are not alone. Temari!" He called out; Temari appeared by his side, her fan already drawn, Naruto slowly lifted himself up to stand beside them. The dark figure moved closer at a fast pace, Naruto narrowed his eyes, recognizing the chakra signature.

"Sasuke." He said it with conviction, his eyes shifting to Hinata who was being held protectively in Gaara's arms. His eyes found Gaara's, they both nodded in a silent agreement to protect her at all costs. The figure loomed closer and came to a stopped a couple feet ahead of them.

'_My mind's lost with nightmares streaming, waking up (kicking screaming)'_

"So it seems like you figured out how to disrupt the binding." Sasuke scoffed at them, his eyes narrowed menacingly. His frown soon flipped into a smirk as his eyes narrowed in on Hinata.

"It must have been painful to break, she will never be the same again, disrupting the seal you only managed to break her." His voice licked something dark, as he saw Hinata grip Gaara tighter. "Remember Hinata you agree to it, you never asked for any warnings." He laughed at her fearful form. Her eyes widened as she let out another scream, the purple aura still lingered around her, pushing her further into agony. Gaara's eyes widen in fear as he pulled the girl closer to him, hugging her tightly trying to ease her pain. Naruto's eyes narrowed at Sasuke who stood there with a smirk planted firmly on his face.

"You're sick, how could you do such a thing to her?" He yelled angrily at him, balling his fists. "Hinata has always been a kind and caring person who cares for all and you..." He clenched his teeth; an orange aura formed around him "You just used her as if she was nothing." Sasuke laughed at him darkly.

"Oh and you didn't?" He question shocked Naruto, which was soon replaced with guilt and anger.

"I know I haven't treated her the best and I realize what I did to her was wrong, and I will keep trying to make it up to her for the rest of my life. But I would never do something to hurt her like you have. I would never try to destroy her mind." He yelled the last part, his anger consuming him. The Kyuubi was taking control, transforming him into something stronger. His nails grew into claws, sharp teeth jutted out of his mouth. He snarled at the dark ninja, clenching his teeth he stared at him with vengeful eyes. "This ends today." He growled at him, the dark hair boy merely smirked at him, his eyes glowing red with the sharingan already activated.

'_Take me out of this place I'm in, break me out of this shale case I'm in'_

Temari knelt down beside Gaara and looked over at the frail looking girl in his arms. She was shivering almost like she was sick, her eyes tightly shut, light sweat covering her face causing her hair to stick to it.

"Gaara we need to fight… you need to fight. You're stronger than me so let me take care of her. Go help Naruto, kill the bastard for doing this." Her voice held strong, but her eyes glittered with fear and sadness. He nodded to her, standing up giving Temari room to move in to comfort the girl. He turned and walked over to the partially transformed Naruto.

"So the great Kazekage decided to join the fight after all." Sasuke's voice dipped in sarcasm as he stood there unfazed. Gaara stood there snarling at him, pulling his hands into fists. He closed his eyes and whispered a jutsu, the sand around him began to arouse, whipping at the air angrily. Naruto shot off towards Sasuke claws pointed at him, slashing at him cause the boy to back up. Sasuke brought a hand up to his face to touch the blood that was now slowly dripping down his face. Cocking his head to the side his red eyes narrowed at the Kyuubi, the smirk never leaving his face. While his attention was on Naruto, he didn't notice the sand that had begun to move underneath him, the sand moved at a fast pace trapping him. Gaara held his hand out pulling it in to a fist, the sand around Sasuke began to tighten, reacting quickly he shot chakra at the sand breaking out. Gaara command more sand send shards of it flying towards him, successfully cutting him. Sasuke dodge the majority of them, he shot off towards Naruto with his blade out. Naruto dodged him smacking his arm into his neck, and punching him in the stomach causing him to fall forward. Gaara shot more sand towards him, but he managed to avoid it gracefully.

'_Underneath the skin there's a human'_

Landing on the roof top of one of the nearby buildings he sneered at them, danger lurking within his eyes. "You haven't got a clue do you? You fight to what protect the one who turned on you so easily." His voice held malice, as eyed Hinata's shaking form. "She always was better than people gave her credit for. All she needed was a push and removal of all emotions and she became the perfect ninja." He snickered, his eyes snapping to Naruto then to Gaara. "You do know the only way to break the bind fully is to kill her right? She dies it breaks and I get stronger, which will happen regardless, you can just choose to put her out of her misery but mark my words she will break and you can't save her." He smirked at the last words, before taking off towards the entrance of the city. A growl could be heard; Naruto shot a glance towards Gaara. His hand was extended slowly it closed into a tight fist. A blood curdling scream could be heard in the distance, Naruto ran towards the direction to find a very bloody Sasuke on the ground reaching towards his ankle. Gaara stood beside the now shocked Naruto.

"You talk big, but you don't even notice when there's something underneath you." Gaara spoke in a dangerously low voice, his hand lifted again. "You say she needs to die for the bond to break, I would assume it would work both ways." Sasuke eyes snapped up to Gaara, there was still fire mixed in within the pain, he smirk and lowered his head in defeat.

"You wouldn't be wrong." As soon as the words left his mouth, before even Naruto could react, the sand had covered Sasuke's body, Gaara's hand clenched shut, whispering 'Sand Coffin' the sand constricted and imploded in on itself splashing the nearby walls and ground with blood and sand. Naruto slowly fell to his knees, his eyes slowly returning to bright blue they were before, he was panting hard from the fighting, and his wounds were still bleeding. He knew he had failed the mission he had place himself on years and years ago. Find Sasuke and return him home to Konaha. But deep down he knew there was only one outcome of this and both would end in him losing someone close to him. His glance shifted over to Gaara who was now hunched over, hands grabbing on to the sides of his head, deep crimson hair falling over his face. He was shaking, but not from anger but from sadness.

"I don't want to kill anymore." His voice was a hoarse whisper, Naruto face fell upon hearing his friend's revelation. He sighed shaking his head, he place a hand gently on his shoulder.

"Gaara… you didn't have a choice. I.. I would have made the same. Hinata is important to both of us, though I have hurt her; I still consider her one of my closest friends." Gaara turned his face towards him; agony was evident on his face. "Come on we need to get back to Hinata." He said with his trademark grin plaster across his face holding his hand out to Gaara. He took and allowed him to help back on to his feet before simply nodding to him.

'_Buried deep within there's a human'_

They raced across the city towards the hospital where they were sure the girls would be now. As soon as they entered medic ninja pulled Naruto in the direction of one of the rooms to get him healed up despite his protests. The head medic ninja Asuki noticed the Kazekage standing there.

"Kazekage-sama, are you here to check up on the kunoichi that were brought in by Temari-san?" She asked in a soft voice. He looked at her and nodded. "Er well the pink haired kunoichi Haruno Sakura is in critical condition, she has massive internal injuries, and is currently in the operation room as we speak. The other Hyuuga Hinata is suffering from what we can see as a mental break down. She not speaking, or even paying any attention to anyone around her, it like she given up and choose not to acknowledge anyone." Gaara looked at her with worry; his hands began to shake ever so slightly.

"My I see Hyuuga-san?" She nodded and pointed to the room she was in. He slowly made his way there stopping just outside the door. She was lying down on her back staring blankly at the ceiling. He entered the room cautiously keeping his eye on her as he moved towards her. "Hinata?" He called to her in soft whisper trying to coax her into looking at him but her eyes remained unmoving. Slowly he reached out his hand and gently touched the top side of her hand; she didn't flinch or twitch which worried him greatly. He noticed the chair in the corner of the room, using his sand he moved towards him so he could sit right near the bed. The room remained quiet, with only the hum of the machines and her soft breathing could be heard. Gaara sighed to himself. 'What do I do? How do I wake her mind up so she returns to how she once was? What exactly did that bond do to her?' His hands clenched into fists, his eyes narrowed at a speck of dust floating in the room. Hinata was damaged and it was the now dead Sasuke's fault and now he wasn't so sure there would be anyway to fix her. He cursed to himself silently, closing his eyes, his hand pinch the bridge of his nose trying to relieve himself of the stress. He heard the door open, his eyes snapped to the intruding person only to soften at the site of his sister. Temari entered the room watching her brother, and then slowly moving her sight to Hinata.

"How is she?" she asked in a shaky voice, as she placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, but was at a loss for words. The poor girl had been mentally destroyed by the bond; if she ever returned to her old self no one could know.

'_And despite everything I'm still human, but I think I'm dying here'_

* * *

Okay I know this story has like gone way off of what you were probably all expecting I'm sorry for the change, but as years go on my writing ideas change and well frankly I don't even remember how I was originally going to go about the story. I'm just going by where my writing decides to take me. As for moments between the two, in the next two chapters (the repairing and the very last chapter) there will be lots of cute/romantic moments. And well because I'm kinda back in the fandom (yes I started rewatching the series for ideas to finish the story and cause I felt like it, it my way of bring myself back into anime) I'm think of writing another story as a kind of tester to see if I can write a longer multi-chapter story to prepare myself to write a book. So if you would be interested in that let me know it's going to be a modern AU but not a high school story, (and I promise I won't abandon it like I have before, I using my writing as an outlet right now, so anything I start now will be finished)

Anyways song is Human by Daughter (definitely suggest you listen to their stuff, they are amazing)


	10. Little Talks

Little Talks

'_I don't like walking around this old and empty house'_

It took a week before she started speaking again, but at the moment it was only certain people she would talk to. With the things she had been through, the medic nin tried their best to help her, but there was only so much chakra healing could do. She soon had been released back to her apartment, and was now sitting on the bed; she stared out the window watching people run through the streets. She tried to figure out her emotions, trying to understand things that continued to confuse her. She remembered everything that happened, the want to kill Naruto, hurting Sakura almost killing her, the fight with Gaara and the kiss. Her fingers traced her lips; it was almost as if she could still feel it. She sighed to herself knowing sooner or later she would need to talk to them, to him. But she didn't know if she was quite ready, there were things in her mind that were fuzzy and didn't make sense, things she was sure had been placed in her mind. The knocking at her door broke her from her thoughts; she rose from the bed and headed to the door. She opened the door a crack and was relieved to see Temari standing there with a wary smile on her face.

"Hey Hina-chan" That had been her nickname for her since she was the only person that she allowed to talk to her. "I just wanted to come by and check on since this is your first night out from the hospital. I figured you might need someone to talk to." Her smile never faded as she talked to Hinata, she sighed and nodded opening the door more to allow her to enter. Temari crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking up at Hinata expectantly. She gave her a shaky smile before sitting down beside her. "So how are you feeling?" She asked still watching her carefully. Hinata's eyes drifted to the floor.

"Confused mostly, I still don't fully grasp what happened. I mean I remember it as clear as day, and I know the emotions that I felt but they are still confusing." She spoke with a voice bordering a whisper.

"What are mostly confused about?" She wasn't letting her off easily, as she gave Hinata a knowing look.

"Um… I-I guess m-mainly about G-Gaara…" She trailed off as she continued to look down at the ground refusing to meet Temari's eyes.

"You know you need to talk to him soon right?" Hinata looked up at her for a split second before pushing herself up off the bed and walked towards the window.

"I-I… I-I don't k-know about t-that or h-how I-I… how can I w-when I don't e-even understand the emotions that… ah thinking about him brings… err I-I don't…" She couldn't form the right sentences to explain how she felt. Temari rose from the bed and headed to the door; she turned herself slight to face Hinata.

"Well he's not going to stay away forever. He's giving you space but you are still in his village and it is his duty to make sure that you are alright. So expect that he will probably visit you sometime this week." Temari spoke in a more formal tone as she opened the door and headed out. Hinata sighed to herself, falling back on the bed she stared up at the ceiling. Trying to sort her emotions and thoughts out was a difficult thing. She knew she felt something before Naruto had shown up, and she was beginning to come to terms with it, but then the kiss happened, which probably would have been fine had she been in the right mind. It all seemed to come back to the same thing, and she still didn't have any more answers for herself then she did before.

'_So hold my hand, I'll walk with you, my dear'_

Gaara sat behind his desk trying to go through the paper work that had accumulated over the day. The sun was beginning to set when he looked up from the papers and noticed that the time had been slipping away. He knew he was distracted, but there was clearly nothing he could do about it until he talked to her. He had been worried that she had gone back to the state she had been before so he asked Temari to check in on her and make sure she was alright. That had been hours ago and he still had yet to hear from her, Kankuro had even been there to drop off the report and medic reports on the other two Konoha ninja's. Luckily Sakura had been saved, she had suffered the most from Hinata's attack, and Naruto had the luck of having the Kyuubi in him who allowed him to heal much faster than any normal ninja. He growled in frustration, there had just been too much happening in the last couple weeks, and on top of that he had to sort out his feelings for the dark haired girl that constant occupied his mind. The knock on the door brought his mind back to reality. "Enter" He called out to the intruder, the door swung open to reveal a slightly frustrated Temari. "Ah you're finally back. Uh is everything alright?" He asked her with his normal cold tone. Temari sighed as she sat down on the edge of the desk.

"She's still not ready." Gaara stared at her, furrowing his non-existent brows. "I have tried everything to get her to talk to you, to Naruto even Kankuro. But she simply won't talk to anyone." She sighed again placing her hand on her forehead.

"I am no longer going to wait then." He frowned.

"She'll hate you then." Temari added with a shrug.

"I haven't done anything wrong. I have waited long enough, it's been three weeks." His tone remained cold despite the emotions he was feeling. Temari simply shrugged again.

"Do whatever you think you must do but I think she might end up leaving; I think it's hard for her to be here… because of what happened and all." Gaara's gaze moved to the door, sighing inward, he rose from the desk and made his way to the door.

"Then it will be her choice, but she still needs to talk to me before she makes the decision."

'_The stairs creak as I sleep, it's keeping me awake. It's the house telling you to close your eyes'_

Hinata was pacing around the room lost in her thoughts. Part of her wanted to stay and figure things out but the other part of her was afraid to be here and wanted to leave. The broken memories that were left behind, fragments of hers as well as his, she was struggling trying to determine reality from the constant fog that invaded her mind. The more she thought about it the more she wondered if maybe the kiss was really a fragment of a dream and not real like she seemed to think it had been. But how it felt real, how she felt when it happened it had almost seemed right. She flopped down on the bed, staring at the ceiling again. Her bags had been packed she was ready to leave, for the moment it seemed like the right thing to do. She caused the village of sand much trouble and until she could sort out her feelings she needed to be home, with the people who hated her but at least they would leave her be. "I can't do this anymore." She whispered to herself as she closed her eyes to rest for a bit before the trip home.

'_And some days I can't even trust myself'_

Gaara stood outside her door debating whether to knock or not. He didn't quite understand why she didn't want to see him, it's not like this was his fault so why was she punishing him. He rose his hand up and tapped the door lightly. Silence answered him. Maybe she was sleeping? Or had she already left? 'No if she was going to leave she would be going with Sakura and Naruto.' He thought, turning to leave he gave her door a last look before deciding on a different way in. Exiting the build he jumped on to the rooftop, slowly he jump down on to the ledge of her window and slid inside. She was asleep on the bed; her hair was spread around her like a fan. She looked somewhat peaceful, the paleness from before had gradually gone away, leaving her with the flawless skin that he had come accustom to. He quietly walked towards the bed, sitting down beside her, she didn't stir. His fingers found her face and began to trace her cheek down to her chin. "Beautiful" he murmured to himself, his fingers slowly brushing away loose strands of her hair. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, she stared contently at him.

"Gaara?" Her soft voice called. "Why are you in here?" Her widened and she bolted up in her bed. "Whaa…" he stopped her from speaking by placing his finger to her mouth.

"I've wanted to talk to you. I don't like being pushed away like you have been doing for the past three weeks." His words were straight forward, his eyes never leaving hers. She was the first to break eye contact as she looked down at her hands.

"I… I'm sorry." Her words were whispered. "I-I can't stay I-I'm s-sorry." She cursed herself for stuttering in his presence. He frowned at her words and stood walking towards the window.

"I suppose if that is so I won't try to stop you then..." 'Even if it goes against my better judgement' he left the last part unsaid. The hurt was in his eyes but he refused to allow her to see it. Before she could utter a response he jumped out of the window, once landing on the ground he disappeared leaving sand as the only evidence he had been there. Hinata sighed to herself, now standing at the window looking off in the direction she knew he would be.

"I'm sorry, but I'm leaving because I'm afraid that I have fallen in love with you." She whispered those words to the wind.

'_It's killing me to see you this way'_

Naruto sat inside Gaara's office waiting for him to return, despite the words of his sister he need to talk to him before leaving that afternoon. Gaara silently strode into the office, catching sight of Naruto he sighed.

"What do you want? Shouldn't be at the gate preparing to leave?" He asked in his deadpan tone. Naruto stood up and turned to face him, his face was stone and his voice serious.

"You are not about to let her walk out of your life I know you won't. Because if you do then you are the stupidest man alive, come on you save her life and just because she says she leaving you're just going to let her." Gaara turned his face to the window and stared at the village below him.

"It's not my place to stop her. If she wants to leave then it's her choice. Clearly we both don't feel the same." His words didn't feel like his own but it mattered not since to him they were true.

"Idiot" Gaara turned to face him; he raised his non-existent eye brow at him. "Letting her leave when she does have feelings for you makes you an idiot. If you don't want to believe it fine but you're missing the perfect opportunity. So I guess I'll see you next time you're in Konoha." With that said he turned and headed for the door, leaving Gaara to his thoughts.

'_You're gone, gone, gone away I watched you disappear' _

The journey to Konoha had been a quiet one, Naruto had tried to speak to Hinata but she had taken off fast so that she was well ahead of them muttering something about being in front to watch for danger in other words I have nothing to say to you so I'll just go on ahead of you. When they had finally reached the gates Hinata headed straight to the Hokage's office to hand off her report before heading towards the Hyuuga compound. Upon entering she notice her father was there to greet her, which had been strange since he had never cared before.

"Welcome home my daughter; I trust the mission was successful." She nodded, briefly before coming out with a more appropriate answer.

"Y-Yes father the mission went well. There was little to no problems and I don't believe there should be any reason for me to return." She had managed to stop her stutter for the most port surprising even her father. He nodded at her response before turning and heading off towards the study. Recognizing this as dismissal she headed to her room, not wanting to be bothered by anyone else.

'_All that's left is the ghost of you.'_

Gaara wandered through the village, as it was now night and he could not sleep. Looking around you wouldn't be able to tell that a fight took place or that anything was amiss, but Gaara knew he would forever be left with the memories of what happened. He eventually found himself at the training grounds even in the darkness he could make out the wooden poles that he been damaged by use. He thought about the first time he had seen her here. She had been sitting on the bench thinking about what happened between Naruto and her. He sighed to himself for what seemed like the thousandth time, he couldn't shake the feeling that maybe Naruto had been right. He knew he had fallen for her, he knew the since the duel at the beginning of her trip here. 'I'm stupid.' A simple thought held more truth then he had been willing to admit. He ran his hand through his red hair, while he continued to mentally scold himself. 'I need to find a way to let her know how I feel.' As he slowly walked back towards the tower he figured he would ask his siblings for help.

Morning came sooner then he thought it would, after spending the night on the roof top continuing his mental fight. He watched the sun rise, people slowly exiting their homes ready to start the day. He sighed to himself and slowly made his way inside to seek out Temari, after deciding that she would likely be the better choice to ask about these sorts of things. Temari sat at one of the stools of the fair size kitchen they shared; she looked up as he entered.

"Good morning Gaara." She spoke with her as cheery as she could possibly be voice, which is not that cheery. He nodded at her as he poured himself some tea, before walking over to the other stool.

"Temari, I have something I need your help with." She watched him expectantly and nodded for him to continue. "Lately I have been having thoughts and I don't know how to act upon them. Before Naruto left he told me I was and idiot." Temari snorted at that but kept silence urging him to continue. "I fell for her." Temari smiled at him knowingly.

"I know, it was it little hard to tell at first but after you saved her, it was clear as day. You need to go to her." She smiled as she stood up beckoning him to follow. "You have to let her know and you can't let her just brush it off. She likes you, but I think she was afraid to admit it because of Naruto breaking her heart." Gaara's eyes found the floor as he followed Temari to council hall.

"I don't even know where to start." He paused as he thought. "She probably moved on anyways." Temari shook her head. 'Men there are so thick sometimes.' They entered the hall for the meeting, six older men stood by their seats bowing as the Gaara entered. He nodded to them as he took his seat, Temari and Kankuro flank his sides as they began the meeting.

'_Now we're torn, torn, torn apart, there's nothing we can do'_

Hiashi stood outside his daughter's door, he and elders had talked and they figured it was the best for Hinata to be married off to make way for Hanabi to become the leader of the clan. In his heart he knew he was making the right choice, he knew Hinata really hadn't wanted to be the next leader. He also knew he had never given her enough credit making it out to seem like he hated her, which was exactly the opposite. He loved her more then she could ever know, and he felt now as if he was freeing her from a life she didn't want. He raised his hand to the door and lightly tapped it. He could her shuffling, before the door opened to reveal Hinata. "Yes father?" Her voice sound rough which worried him, clearing his throat he began the start of the conversation that would either make her happy or anger her more.

"Daughter there are things that I would l like to discuss with you in regards of the future of the clan, as you are still the heiress. Please follow me to the office where we may talk undisturbed." His voice was clear and sharp, and she would not be one to be dishonourable. She gave him a nod and followed behind him towards his office. Once inside he closed the door, and pointed to the chair. "It has come to the attention of the council of Elders that some decisions need to be set for Hanabi to become the next leader of the clan. You have now been over looked as the leader because they feel you are not strong enough to lead the clan." Her face fell at his words, she felt like someone had just slapped her in the face, as she hope returning from Suna would prove the she is more than ready to take over. "As such they have come to the choice of marrying you off to a family of great power in another village. It was hard to agree to this choice but as I was out numbered in the vote I had to agree. Hinata I care about your happiness more then you realize, and I hope the choice of suitor will be to your liking. At the upcoming Sakura Festival you will meet you're soon to be husband, and I hope that as my daughter you will make me proud by accepting this without complaint." He turned and looked at her trying to understand how she felt about it.

"I-I" She stopped, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. This was for the best; she needed to forget Naruto and Gaara as neither of them would happen, especially Naruto since he destroyed her heart. Her eyes hardened and she looked her father straight in the eye. "I accept." She uttered the words with much strength; she knew there would be no going back and no running away. This was her destiny now to become a wife and remain a strong ninja in the process.

'_Just let me go we'll meet again soon'_

"MARRIAGE!" Temari yelled out with anger. "You can't ask that! That is not fair." The head elder Akito shook his head.

"It is perfectly in our right as council to ask this. Your father was met with the same decision. We strive on keeping the Kazekages in your family line, so this must be done." He said with finality to his words. Gaara frown but nodded in acceptance. "Now Konaha has chosen one of the oldest clans, if you don't accept it will be dishonourable." Again Gaara nodded.

"Do we know the clan that has been chosen?" Akito nodded.

"It will be one of the daughters of Hiashi Hyuuga, the daughter who is not in line to become the leader of their clan." Gaara sighed. She apparently had a sister and now he would be marrying her, just his luck.

"I'll accept." His words were clear, and void of any emotion. "If this is what is to be expected then I cannot turn my back on my duty." He said staring straight at Akito not flinching in the slightest.

"Then Kazekage-sama it has been decided. You will travel to Konaha for the Sakura festival where you will meet your future bride." Akito finished, slowly standing and headed for the door, the other elders followed suit, bowing to Gaara as they left. Gaara remain seated, he could hear his sibling beside him but whatever they were saying was just mumbles.

"Gaara are you even listening?" He caught sight of Temari's hand waving in front of him. He moved his eyes to hers and gave her his full attention. "I said what are you going to do about your feelings for Hinata if you're being forced to marry someone from her family?" He looked down at the table before him and contemplated his word.

"There is nothing to do, I have to push the feeling aside and move on. This is for the better of the village despite my personal feelings. To which she clearly had none since she was the one that left." With that said he whispered a jutsu and disappeared in a wisp of sand. Temari sighed and looked at Kankuro.

"Well now what?" She asked him. He shrugged at her not really sure of what to do.

"It's his choice in the end and he chose to give up his feelings for the village, he is the Kazekage, he probably knew this would happen eventually. Best we can do is going with him and supporting whatever happens.

'_Now wait, wait, wait for me please hang around'_

Hinata sat out in the garden contemplating her future now, her father had told it would be someone from Suna but the who it was left out as they didn't actually know who it was only the council of elders from the village had contacted Konoha and asked that a bride be chosen from a prestige clan. And well the Hyuuga's are the oldest clan now since the Uchiha's had died out long ago and well Sasuke had been the only one alive up to recent. She sighed as she felt a presence near her, another clan member whose chakra signature she could never forget. "Yes Neji-san?" Her voice was soft as a whisper, but held the emotion she had been trying to conceal. He walked up to her and knelt beside her.

"I heard from Hiashi-sama that you are being married off to someone from Suna." She nodded not wanting to accept the fact that she would be returning to that village and returning to feelings she would have to give up on. "I just wanted you to know that I believe in you, and I know you will make the best wife to whomever you marry." There was a genuine smile on his face as he looked at her; she was slight taken back by it because she never pegged Neji to be someone who would care for her.

"Thank you Neji-san for the kind words, I know I should have expected this sooner than later but I can't help to feel like it is happening too fast." He looked at her and nodded in agreement.

"Yes the elders are acting on it fast I suppose they don't expect Hiashi to be around much long and want to see the next leader being prepped and ready for when the time comes." He sighed, and slowly stood to leave her to her thoughts.

"Ah thank you Neji-san." She smiled up at him, the change in how she felt about him was fast, she respected him and all he had done to help her through his kind words meant the world to her. He smiled back nodding before disappearing towards the compound. Hinata looked towards the garden; the flowers were blooming in the light spring air, her mind drift towards the red head that had been in her thoughts since leaving Suna. "It's time for me to give up on those feelings Gaara, as we aren't going to ever have the chance to make them become anything more. I'm sorry I ran away and I'm sorry for this." She whispered to the wind silently hoping it would reach him but knowing it wouldn't.

'_I'll see you when I fall asleep'_

* * *

Wow I think this is the longest chapter yet and if you can tell I'm definitely going on with it so this is not the end there should be a least one more chapter. I think it can easily be seen where this is going, I can insure this will have a great ending or well least I hope it does. Anyways the song is Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men, beautiful group with beautiful songs that are all worth listening to.


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